Based in liberal Seattle, the Starbucks coffee chain has a reputation that extends beyond its lattés, macchiatos, and cold brews. For decades now, Starbucks has been a model of progressivism, promoting such issues as refugees, climate change, and race relations.

That is, until it doesn’t.

On April 12, in Philadelphia, police arrested two black men in a Starbucks store. Apparently they were waiting for a friend, but they didn’t buy any coffee. And that, in the eyes of the store manager, was out of line. So rather than directly asking the men to make a purchase, he called the police.

It’s obvious in this video of the arrest that both men went quietly. It’s also plain that customers were upset about the incident.

A woman named Lauren, who didn’t want to give her last name, shot that video and told the local ABC affiliate what happened.

She said the two men entered the Starbucks late in the afternoon and asked to use the restroom. Employees told them that it was only for paying customers, so the men sat down to wait for a friend. Police Commissioner Richard Ross also confirmed this.

Later officers entered the store and told them to leave, under the threat of arrest if they didn’t comply. The two told police they were waiting for another party, and offered to call the friend to confirm.

However, police arrested them, anyway. The friend arrived and tried to intervene, but the police told him that they were trespassing. Lauren added, “The two men stayed calm and did not raise their voices once. Everyone else in the Starbucks, however, was appalled.”

Since then the men were released from custody, the DA declined to press charges, and the Philly police began an investigation.

And Starbucks? It went into damage control, issuing an apology on Saturday:

We apologize to the two individuals and our customers for what took place at our Philadelphia store on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/suUsytXHks

— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) April 14, 2018

But, no matter. Twitter went into social justice overdrive, with users expressing anger with the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks, and making comments like these:

“The police at Starbucks were just doing their job”

Translation: “Cops are robots of the racist state and have zero power of discernment when to make an arrest when called by a white employee amidst a bout of racial emotional distress” #BoycottStarbucks

— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) April 14, 2018

Starbucks is going to have to do more this time. No bullshit apology. The employees responsible need to be fired. I won’t spend a dime there until that happens.

As a black man I should feel safe waiting at any restaurant for my entire party to arrive. #BoycottStarbucks

— Sir James The 2nd… The Duke of Dont Get Cussed Out (@NotOnMyWatchTV) April 14, 2018

Outside the Starbucks today pic.twitter.com/vcr9QstkRT

— Melissa DePino (@missydepino) April 14, 2018

Well, well, how ironic is this? Starbucks, the coffee company that brags on its website about its ‘corporate social responsibility,’ and how it seeks to ‘strengthen communities,’ just got a black eye from fellow liberals. And it will be really interesting to see how Starbucks digs themselves out of this kerfuffle.

So let’s step back and analyze this, shall we?

First of all, if you’ve ever been in a Starbucks — or any coffee house, for that matter — it oozes comfort. There are big leather chairs to sink into while checking your phone. There’s free WiFi, and tables where people hunker over their computers. Groups meet there for lengthy meetings over their laptops and coffee. My eldest daughter says the local Starbucks is her “office,” where she can escape with her laptop to work on her photography business. And then there’s coffee — lots of hot, comforting java.

There is nothing in the environment of a Starbucks that would tell the two men that they weren’t welcome to hang out — obviously people do it every day, and for long periods of time, too.

So are the police at fault? I have no idea. I’m not a police officer, and am not married to one, so I have no idea what their policies are. So I will neither blame nor absolve them of any error in judgment.

However, I do wonder what in the world the Starbucks manager was thinking. All he or she needed to do was to tell these men that they needed to make a purchase if they wanted to stick around for a while. A simple “Can I help you?” might have gone a long way. Even going so far as to offer a small sample of a new drink to the men while they waited would’ve been a great PR move.

But no. Instead the manager called the police. And Starbucks, the hipster coffee company that prides itself on championing liberal causes, now has to eat crow in the face of its virtue signaling Fail.