'What's right is right': 2 black men talk in first interview since Starbucks arrest

A week after their arrest at a Philadelphia Starbucks drew national outrage, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” to talk about their experience.

Nelson and Robinson were sitting inside a Starbucks in the city, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, when a manager called police and said that two men didn’t buy anything and wouldn’t leave. Officers arrived and arrested Nelson and Robinson.

Nelson told GMA anchor Robin Roberts that they were there for a meeting that they hoped would alter the course of their lives.

"This is a real estate meeting. We’ve been working on this for months," Nelson said on GMA. "We're days away from changing our whole entire situation, our lives."

That day changed their lives — but not how they expected. The arrest was caught on camera — and it sparked a national discussion about racial profiling and prompted Starbucks to announce that it will close its locations on May 29 for racial-bias training, the Inquirer reported.

The men said they hope lasting change can come from their arrest. The two have already received a face-to-face apology from Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson.

“I want to make sure that this doesn’t happen again,” Robinson said. “So what I want is for a young man or young men to not be traumatized by this and instead motivated, inspired.”

According to Robinson, he and Nelson were held by police for eight hours and did not have their Miranda rights read to them.

Robinson added that it was hard to process the whirlwind of events.

"It didn't really hit me what was going on, that it was real, until I was being double-locked with my hands behind my back," he said. "I understand that rules are rules, but what's right is right and what's wrong is wrong.”

This story was originally published April 19, 2018 at 9:10 AM with the headline "'What's right is right': 2 black men talk in first interview since Starbucks arrest."