https://www.facebook.com/spice.child.75/videos/10160426049215574/
A group of Black tourists visiting from Britain claim they were subjected to racist treatment while visiting a KFC restaurant in Berlin on Monday. Now they’re facing charges for recording and uploading the incident online for all to see.
The popular chicken chain is under fire after a viral video showed police escorting the group of friends out of the restaurant’s Berlin store. In the caption, the person who recorded the incident accuses KFC of having racist intentions after throwing them out of the restaurant.
“Racial treatment in Berlin in KFC,” she wrote. “We were just having something to eat n chatting #racismstillexist #neverexperiencethatbefore.”
Berlin police have vehemently denied the claims, however, and on Thursday, announced plans to press charges against those involved in recording and uploading the footage for violating the officer’s privacy rights, The Washington Post reported.
The clip, which has been viewed over 300,000 times, shows two Berlin officers approach the group’s table and ask them to leave. Several of the diners began asking why, as they had already paid for their food and were in the middle of enjoying their meal. After several minutes of back and forth with the officers, the group, visibly upset, gets up and leaves the restaurant, with police not far behind.
At one point, one of the officers is heard telling the woman recording to delete the video from her phone.
“No! You can’t tell me to delete it from my phone because it’s MY phone,” she replies. “I know my rights.”
According to a spokeswoman for Berlin PD, the drama unfolded after a KFC worker called police to complain about ongoing “vandalism” inside the restaurant. The told worker told police there was a group of eight people who would not leave the store and had “thrown around food and insulted employees.”
KFC also issued a statement on Thursday, condemning the group’s “alarming” behavior. The chicken chain said its employees tried to mediate the situation but to no avail. That’s when another worker called the police, the company said.
Kelon Pierre, one of the members of the group, painted a completely different picture of Monday’s incident. Speaking to German newspaper Die Welt, the 38-year-old said he and his friends had ordered food for 118 euros and were laughing and talking with other folks inside the restaurant. That’s when he said an employee came over and told them to either quiet down or they’d have to leave.
“Other guests around us also chatted and laughed,” Pierre said. That’s why I asked [the employee], ‘Why are you only speaking to us?’ ”
“We were the only black people in the restaurant and we were the only ones asked to be quieter, even though other people laughed, too,” he added.
Video of the incident sparked widespread outrage, including from Germans who apologized to the tourists on behalf of their countrymen, The Washington Post reported. For many, the incident was reminiscent of the situation involving two Black men who were arrested while waiting for a friend at a Philadelphia Starbucks last month.
Despite the backlash, KFC Germany doubled-down on its response to the incident, saying its employee’s acted accordingly.
“Our employees come from different cultures and have various faiths. Of course, every guest is welcome (at our stores) across the globe — regardless of their origins, their religion or skin color,” the company said in a statement.
