black couple being handcuffed following a $1 payment dispute

[DOS_patos]

• A black couple was handcuffed by police officers outside a Florida Waffle House after a dispute with wait staff, according to footage that was posted by activist and journalist Shaun King to Facebook.
• Waffle House employees called the police after the customers argued they were overcharged by 50 cents on a drink that should have cost $1.
• The incident follows two other instances in which black customers' concerning encounters with police officers at Waffle House locations went viral.
• "We understand the concern over these incidents, and welcome continued communication with the community, its leaders and the customers involved," Waffle House said in a statement.

Waffle House is under fire after footage from a police officer's body camera revealed a chaotic clash between a black couple and police officers at the chain.

Footage posted by activist and journalist Shaun King on Wednesday shows police entering a Waffle House in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. In the video, two people are seen inside the restaurant, arguing with employees regarding the bill, which the customers say was overly high.

"The man being arrested here refused to pay for a $1.50 overcharge on an orange juice that was listed as $1.00 on the menu. That's all," King writes. "When they refused to change the charge he demanded to talk to customer service."

In the video, the officer asks the woman and the man, who is speaking on a cell phone, to come outside. After a period of time in which the pair discuss reported issues with the bill, the couple goes outside.

Outside, the couple and the police officers begin talking over each other. The police say that the bill needs to be paid or the pair will be arrested for theft, while the couple says that confusion regarding the bill needs to be cleared up first.

The video shows both the man and the woman being handcuffed by police over their vocal protests. While not shown in the footage, the pair was not ultimately charged with a crime, and they paid for their meals. The woman returned to the Waffle House location later and received a full refund.




The incident follows two other interactions between Waffle House customers and the police that went viral online.

Chikesia Clemons was arrested at a Waffle House in Saraland, Alabama, in April. Cell-phone footage of the arrest, taken by Clemons' friend, shows multiple officers physically wrestling Clemons to the ground, exposing her breasts.

In May, Waffle House employees called police on 22-year-old Anthony Wall after he got into an argument with several workers at a Warsaw, North Carolina location. Footage Wall shared on Facebook shows an officer choking him and slamming him to the ground.

Waffle House said in a statement that in investigations into the two past incidents "we concluded that our employees acted appropriately by calling the police in light of safety concerns for our customers and themselves." In the most recent case, the chain said its "review of the matter is continuing."

Here is Waffle House's full statement:
"As anyone who has dined with us knows, we have a very diverse customer base and workforce," Waffle House said in We have had a culture of inclusion since we opened our doors in 1955, and are very proud of the fact that our restaurants have been open to all. We understand the concern over these incidents, and welcome continued communication with the community, its leaders and the customers involved.

With respect to the Saraland, Ala., and Warsaw, N.C., incidents, we concluded that our employees acted appropriately by calling the police in light of safety concerns for our customers and themselves. In the Fort Walton Beach, Fla., incident, our review of the matter is continuing.

Our CEO, Walt Ehmer, called Ms. Sheffield the same day we received a letter from her, and said he would personally review the matter. As part of our process, we’ve tried to contact Ms. Sheffield several times, but she has not responded. We would like to talk further with her before we conclude our review.

We hope that people will consider all the facts before making up their minds, and we stand ready to engage in open and constructive dialogue about our company, our values and our commitment to doing all we can to ensure that our customers have a great experience in our restaurants.”

 

[DOS_patos]

you niggas gon learn...

but yall need yall waffles

 

[Chi-Town B]

Waffle House has continuously said fuck black people and blacks steady hand over their money to them.

 

[DOS_patos]

i guess the thing is now to say fuck black people as a marketing scheme.

 

[SneakDZA]

Who the hell even has time to bother to dispute a 50 cent discrepancy?

 

[Like_Water]

I understand the principle, but who honestly gives a fuck about .50? Smh. And to get put in cuffs over it? Broke ass niggas.

 

[Babelipsss]

Getting irate over 50 cents? They could have left it as an insult tip. But I'm guessing that those weren't the tip leaving kind of people.

 

[DMorgan]

Who the hell even has time to bother to dispute a 50 cent discrepancy?

I get what you saying but

I also ain't getting cuffed for .50. I get the principle but I would've left.

 

[Allah_U_Akbar]

So...

Is Waffle House a popular negro hangout spot?

I've never been to one.

 

[1/2]

thats ya'll spot tho

"why would we eat at a place with cracker in the name?" lol

 

[Elzo69Renaissance]

Waffle House has continuously said fuck black people and blacks steady hand over their money to them.

u know niggas dont give a fuck smh...been to waffle house for the first time in Feb...nothing about that place is eorth my dignity

 

[StringerBell]

 

[Elzo69Renaissance]

bout to bust out my Girbauds shorts too

 

[Babelipsss]

I couldn't watch the whole video. Just pay the fifty cents.

 

[SneakDZA]

thats ya'll spot tho

"why would we eat at a place with cracker in the name?" lol

I get what you're saying - I know Cracker Barrel has a spotless reputation so far in this regard... but it could just be that they have yet to be confronted with even the mere existence of black people altogether.

I can't tell you how many times I've been on a road trip hungry and seen a Cracker Barrel sign on the highway and was like "nah... I'll hold out for an Arby's or a Taco Bell".

 

[The Lonious Monk]

I get what you're saying - I know Cracker Barrel has a spotless reputation so far in this regard... but it could just be that they have yet to be confronted with even the mere existence of black people altogether.

I can't tell you how many times I've been on a road trip hungry and seen a Cracker Barrel sign on the highway and was like "nah... I'll hold out for an Arby's or a Taco Bell".

lol Nigga gonna miss Taco Bell over Cracker Barrel over some name silliness? You missin out man.

 

[Broddie]

Keep going to Waffle House...

 

[DMorgan]

I get what you're saying - I know Cracker Barrel has a spotless reputation so far in this regard... but it could just be that they have yet to be confronted with even the mere existence of black people altogether.

I can't tell you how many times I've been on a road trip hungry and seen a Cracker Barrel sign on the highway and was like "nah... I'll hold out for an Arby's or a Taco Bell".

Only ate at waffle house 1 time in my entire life. Don't miss it at all. Ate at Cracker Barrel twice and its OK nothing special at all. I've never eaten at Arby's and have no desire to. Shit just doesn't intrigue me enough to try it.

 

[konceptjones]

I get what you're saying - I know Cracker Barrel has a spotless reputation so far in this regard... but it could just be that they have yet to be confronted with even the mere existence of black people altogether.

I can't tell you how many times I've been on a road trip hungry and seen a Cracker Barrel sign on the highway and was like "nah... I'll hold out for an Arby's or a Taco Bell".

 

[StringerBell]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/body-c...ersial-florida-waffle-house-police-encounter/

Bodycam video shows controversial Florida Waffle House police encounter

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. -- After a video of a black couple being detained at a Florida Waffle House after disputing their bill went viral, on Tuesday police in the beach community posted body camera video of the incident and said their officers committed "no misconduct" but that the "situation could have been handled differently by both parties."

The bodycam footage comes after arrests of black customers at Waffle House restaurants in several states have raised alarm, and spurred a discrimination investigation by a high-profile civil rights attorney.

According to the Fort Walton Police Department, officers received a call of a disorderly customer around 1:30 a.m. on May 3. Video from the officer's body camera shows officers asking a black man to come outside and talk to them.

"Come here," says the officer.

The man says, who is on the phone inside, says, "I ain't going nowhere."

"Yeah, you are," says the officer.

"You put your hand on me..."

"Oh, I'm gonna put my hands on you. Get out here. You want a trespass?"

The man and his girlfriend try to explain that they are waiting on an employee to fix their bill, but the officer keeps asking the man to come outside and "talk to me like a man." The man comes toward him and the officer says, "back up."

A little less than two minutes after the officers arrive, the man comes outside, holding his hands in the air. His girlfriend comes with him. She is recording the interaction on a phone.

The man attempts to explain that he was disputing the Waffle House bill, which he and his girlfriend believed contained an overcharge, but officers keep insisting he pay his bill "or you're gonna go to jail." One officer then points a Taser at his chest, then puts the man in handcuffs. His girlfriend asks the officers to come inside and talk to the employee with them so she can explain the bill, but instead they inform the man he is being arrested for theft and put him in the backseat of their cruiser.

At this point, the officers have not yet interviewed the employees at the Waffle House.

The man's girlfriend goes back into the restaurant and then comes out and says the employees won't talk to her until the officers come in. She is placed in handcuffs and put against the police cruiser. She is crying as she explains that they thought the orange juice only cost $1, but they were charged $2.50.

One officer then interviews the Waffle House employee in charge who explains that the charge was correct because the orange juice is only $1 if you also purchase a beverage, but the couple didn't purchase a beverage, they only asked for water with their meal. The employee said they "tried multiple times to explain" that to the couple, but "they kept yelling and arguing," and when the waitress threatened to call the cops, the man said go ahead.

The employee told the police they wished to press charges for non-payment of the bill. Upon hearing this, the woman, who is in handcuffs, cries, "I was going to pay the bill!"

"The problem is you guys wanna run your mouth," says the officer. "Right when I walk in the door, he wants to start talking about 'you guys aint gonna put your hands on me.' Okay, I'm trying to talk to him like a man to see what's going on, but he wants to start saying stuff like that. And then you wanna pull your phone, which that's fine, you've got the right to record...but what you did, the crime that you and your boyfriend or your husband committed is you didn't pay your bill."

The woman explains they didn't even get their food.

"We didn't get nothing from them, nothing at all. We haven't been served at all, so how's it theft?" she says through tears.

The officer then chastises her for arguing over $1 when her boyfriend had lots of cash on him.

While the two remain handcuffed and sitting in the back of separate police cars, the officer whose body camera is recording the incident confirms that the couple did not get their food. But, apparently frustrated that the handcuffed man interrupted him, the officer says to the other officers, "If you want to take him, take him. I don't care."

The man and the officer then argue about their first interaction, with the officer saying that the handcuffed man should have talked to him "man to man," and the handcuffed man saying, "I did! I came out with my hands up."

It becomes apparent the officers are not going to go forward with an arrest and one officer says to the man, "And you're going to never come back to this Waffle House again?" The man says he won't.

The man and woman are taken out of the police cars and their hands removed from cuffs. The man asks for the officer's badge number and one tells him, "You know I'm doing you a favor by not taking you to jail now?"

The man continues to try to understand why he was cuffed, explaining again that he came out of the Waffle House with his hands up. One officer says, "You a big dude." To which the man replies, "Y'all are bigger than me! You got big guns!"

Finally, the couple walks away and the officers receive another call.

In the Facebook post, the department said: "The Fort Walton Beach Police Department strives to provide superior police services to all citizens and uses opportunities such as this to learn and refine our interactions with the public."

In an emailed statement to CBS News, Waffle House said, "While our review of the Fort Walton Beach, Fla., incident is continuing, we think both sides could have handled this situation better. On our part, our employee could have done more to de-escalate the dispute before calling the police. We have spoken to our employees in the restaurant and will be doing additional training for the team members of this restaurant on the proper way to handle situations like this."

Waffle House also said that the couple came back to the restaurant the next day and were given a full refund, and that the company's CEO called the woman involved in the incident to apologize.