A group of college students have received an apology from the St. Louis police chief after they were wrongly accused of “dining and dashing”. The city manager and police chief met with some of the students from Washington University, saying they gained a lot from this “emotional and powerful” meeting. The city manager said he gained a better understanding of “what it is like to be a young African-American who is confronted by the police.”
The misunderstanding occurred after the students left an IHOP around midnight. They were walking to a light rail station when two officers approached them, assuming they were the suspected group. All the officers knew was what the restaurant manager had told them, which is that a group of students had left without paying a $62 tab.
These students showed receipts, and answered plenty of questions, even opening up a dialogue with the officers and their community about what it means to be black in their community, and under the current social and political climate.
Source: https://www.afro.com/falsely-accused-black-college-students-get-apology/
