The article is less than helpful in determining where this took place relative to the child’s preschool.
This was not “in front of” a private business on a public street, this was inside a private property building.
He was supposedly sitting in a lounge area for building employees and was asked to leave. If I go into a private business, perhaps a Bank of America branch, and sit there long enough, they’re likely to ask me if I have business with them and if not to please leave. Their waiting area is not a public facility. Even though it probably doesn’t have a sign up that it’s a private area.
It is highly likely this could have been handled better by security and the cops, but then it’s also highly likely the guy has a chip on his shoulder about being black, when I would probably also have been asked to move along in a similar situation. But if an identical situation had arisen when I refused to leave, nobody would care. I’m not black.
According to the article he was sitting in a chair in the skyway. Access to the skyway is determined by the buildings it connects, and those buildings can close skyway access to their building during non-business hours. But so long as the skyway is open people have free access to it. It is not a lounge area, it is not an employees-only area. If there is a bench or a chair in it then there is no reason why they can't sit there.