Four Palestinian-American men were victims of what is being decried as a racial profiling incident on a recent Delta Airlines flight. The alleged profiling was done by a member of the Anoka County (northwest suburbs of Minneapolis) Sheriff’s Department, who claimed the men were acting “suspiciously”.
And what was so suspicious? They kept getting up to use the bathroom . Also the men were conversing in Arabic and English. I mean, who would ever expect to hear any language other than English on a flight? How crazy….
Anyhoo, Minnesota Public Radio (in a partnership with the Sahan Journal) has the story:
According to a report from airport police, an officer responded to a welfare check at around 9 p.m. on January 8 for a passenger “who felt uncomfortable with four males that were on her flight.”
“The female caller verbally identified herself as law enforcement, and was requesting police to respond, but didn’t provide any credentials,” the report said.
According to the airport police report: “She said she watched them get up multiple times to go use the bathroom, and as each one came back they would whisper with their arms around each other. She said she found their behavior odd and decided to get up and get some water. While doing so, she approached them and asked if they were on a guys [sic] trip.”
Louay Adley, one of the four men held for over an hour by airport police feels they were racially profiled by the woman.
“When a police officer looks at you like you can’t do anything, it’s belittling,” said 24-year-old convenience store owner Louay Adley, who was one of the four men questioned by airport police. “It put me in this position that everyone at the airport, whether it be the staff, employees, the woman, the police—they see me as someone lower than them.”
The re-telling to what led up to the men being held for questioning by the parties involved is not the same.
According to the airport police report: “She said she watched them get up multiple times to go use the bathroom, and as each one came back they would whisper with their arms around each other. She said she found their behavior odd and decided to get up and get some water. While doing so, she approached them and asked if they were on a guys [sic] trip.”
The woman told police that the passengers said they were “CIA on a secret mission,” and pointed to a black bag.
“That was a lie,” Louay Adley said.
For Adley, the conversation was very different. He said that during the flight, he and one of his cousins were waiting for the bathroom near an empty row of seats when a woman walked up to them and made small talk. She asked what they were doing in Tampa, Florida, the city they departed from.
Adley said he jokingly responded with, “We had a wedding mission to complete.”
The accuser was later identified by Internet sleuths as a member of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Department. The department is being tight-lipped on the situation but is at least acknowledging the situation in typical government-speak.
A thorough telling of the story, including images of the accuser, was detailed by Mnar Adley, brother of Louay.
The replies to Mnar’s thread included many people touting the “See Something, Say Something” mantra. My editorial take on that phrase is that is has made us afraid of our own shadow. Others may differ with that mentality.
I have no idea how this story will play out in the weeks ahead. Will the Anoka County Sheriff’s Department employee keep her job? Will any of the men receive an apology? Will this incident lead to improved ways such incidents are handled? Honestly I have no idea.