Shut up, slave!

: A spilled Starbucks drink led

to a racist tirade and sidewalk fight, police
say

By Amy B June 9 at 12:38 PM

A man who was caught on video unleashing a racist tirade and then turning violent outside a
Chicago Starbucks in the McKinley Park neighborhood has been arrested and charged with
battery, police say.

According to police, Shawn Klan became irate after someone spilled a drink on him inside the
Starbucks on Tuesday afternoon.

A local television photographer who was in the store at the time captured the incident on his
cellphone camera. In the video, a man later identified as Shawn Klan can be heard shouting,
Youre disgusting! and other insults in the presence of other customers and employees.
The incident escalated after Klan left the coffee shop and spit on a 30-year-old man and 34-
year-old woman, police said.

In additional video footage, Klan, who is white and proud of it, can be seen hurling racist insults
at two black bystanders. He appears to be wearing a dark blue polo shirt that still has visible
drink stains.

Shut up, slave! Do not talk to me! Klan yells at the two black men, as someone who appears
to be a Starbucks employee tries to intervene. Your children are disposable vermin!

Moments later, Klan continues yelling toward one of the men, who is walking away: Get on all
fours! Do not walk off on two legs!

Shortly after that, police said, Klan punched a 59-year-old male without provocation. The man
was taken to a hospital with an eye injury, ABC7 News reported.

Bystanders, including the man who was spit on, detained Klan near the Starbucks until officers
arrived to arrest him, police said.

Klan has been charged with three misdemeanor counts of battery, according to Chicago police.
He is scheduled to appear in court July 5.

Local Starbucks employees told ABC7 News reporter Eric Horng that Klan has been a problem
customer in the past, but never violent.

A Starbucks spokeswoman said the company did not have further details about what happened
in the store, or whether Klan had a history as a customer at the Bridgeport location.

What I can tell you, though, is that we have absolutely no tolerance for this type of behavior
in our stores, and are grateful to the partners (employees) and customers who stepped in to
help until officers arrived, the Starbucks spokeswoman said in an email to The Washington
Post.
The incident is the latest in a string of hate-filled public confrontations captured on camera in
recent months in the Bridgeport and McKinley areas of Chicago.

Shortly after the presidential election, a Florida man, apparently a close relative of Klan,
complained of anti-white discrimination and lashed out at a Starbucks barista whom he
claimed refused to serve him because he supported Donald Trump. Witnesses disputed the
mans account and said he simply became angry because he got lost on the way to work that
morning.

Youre trash! the man was heard telling the barista on the video, which went viral. I voted
for Trump! You lost!

At the time, Starbucks said in a statement that embracing diversity and treating each other
with respect and dignity is core to Starbucks values and something our partners take great
pride in showing. We are committed to providing an inclusive, supportive and safe work
environment for everyone.

That same month, a Delta passengers pro-Trump rant was caught on video. We got some
Hillary bitches on here? the man shouted.

Come on, baby! he continued. Trump! Thats what Im talking about. Hey, baby! Donald
Trump! Hes your president, every god one of [you]. If you dont like it, too bad.

The man was allowed to remain on the flight, but Delta later apologized for the disruption and
declared that the man will never again be allowed on a Delta plane.

Around the same time, a woman was filmed berating a black Michaels employee, in an ordeal
that allegedly lasted 45 minutes. In the viral video clip of that confrontation, the woman can be
heard yelling that she was being discriminated against.

And I voted for Trump! So there! What, you want to kick me out because of that? the woman
can be heard shouting in the video. And look who won! And look who won! And look who
won!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/06/09/shut-up-slave-a-spilled-starbucks-drink-led-to-a-racist-tirade-
and-sidewalk-fight-police-say/