Starbucks Barista Wrote "ISIS" On The Cup Of A Muslim Man Named "Aziz"

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Muslim Man Gets “ISIS” Written On His Starbucks Cup

A man in Philadelphia went to a local Starbucks wearing a traditional Middle Eastern tunic and after ordering, told the employee that his name was “Aziz.” Instead, the barista wrote “ISIS” on his cups.

Niquel Johnson told NBC News that he was dressed in a thobe (an ankle-length, long sleeve garment) when he ordered three drinks, one for himself and the others for two friends he was with.

“Abdul Aziz is the name I normally go by; it means servant of the Almighty. But I shortened it for them. ‘Aziz’ alone means mighty.”

Johnson picked up his drinks at the counter, but didn’t notice until about 20 minutes later–after he had already returned to a bookstore with his friends–that the name on those cups was the acronym for the Islamic terror group, ISIS.

“I was shocked at first, and then angry because I felt as though we were discriminated against,” he told NBC News.

Though this is without a doubt one hell of a slip-up, baristas are known for their inability to hear names correctly and/or spell–which is how the company is explaining it. Starbucks told NBC News that the barista misspelled Johnson’s name and they believe it was a simple mistake, not discrimination.

Coincidentally, this recent incident occurred at at a Starbucks on Germantown Avenue, in the same city where two black men were handcuffed and arrested by Philadelphia Police for sitting in a Starbucks without ordering.

Johnson said that his experience on August 25 leads him to believe the racial bias training following the aforementioned incident wasn’t effective.

A Starbucks spokesperson said that the company investigated the incident and came to the conclusion that “the barista mistakenly spelled it incorrectly.” He also said the coffee company had connected with Johnson and apologized for their “regrettable mistake.”