A Cambridge cafe denied service to a retired GBH investigative reporter last week after an employee mistook him for another Black man who had reportedly wreaked havoc at the coffee shop on another occasion.

Phillip Martin said the debacle began when he met a fellow journalist at the Caffè Nero in Central Square and tried to order a cup of tea. The person behind the counter told him she’d been instructed not to serve him and moved on to the next customer.

“I was aghast,” Martin recalled. “I said, ‘I’m completely confused. Are you mistaking me for someone else?’ And she said, ‘No, it’s you. We have you on video tape.’”

After several minutes of back-and-forth, both called 911.

“It’s something I would do instinctively to try to even out the playing field,” explained Martin, an award-winn

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