Ohio cops arrest UAE tourist because he was suspected of terrorism by his hotel clerk
07-03-2016, 07:39 PM
UAE man in full arab garb is mistaken for a terrorist outside his hotel in Ohio and thrown to the ground by police and searched.
My first thought was, "if he wasn't sympathetic to ISIS before this incident, he surely is now"
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/04/world/....html?_r=0
![[Image: 04xp-arrest-master768.png]](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/07/03/us/04xp-arrest/04xp-arrest-master768.png)
My first thought was, "if he wasn't sympathetic to ISIS before this incident, he surely is now"
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/04/world/....html?_r=0
![[Image: 04xp-arrest-master768.png]](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/07/03/us/04xp-arrest/04xp-arrest-master768.png)
Quote:Quote:
The United Arab Emirates warned its citizens on Sunday to avoid wearing traditional clothing when traveling abroad, apparently in response to an episode in Ohio last week in which a businessman from Abu Dhabi, dressed in robes and a head scarf, was confronted by the police at gunpoint because a hotel clerk thought he might be a terrorist.
The businessman was identified as Ahmed al-Menhali, 41, by the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Relatives of a front desk clerk at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Avon, Ohio, called 911 on Wednesday to report that the clerk had panicked after seeing a man in robes and “full head dress” in the hotel lobby, speaking on a phone and “pledging his allegiance or something to ISIS.”
Officers rushed Mr. Menhali outside the hotel with guns drawn, pinned him to the ground, handcuffed him, searched his clothes and wallet, and had him take off his shoes to check his feet. Police body-camera video of the encounter shows Mr. Menhali, who appeared to speak limited English, saying: “What is this?” “I’m tourist,” and “Not good,” while he was on the ground.
The Avon Police Department released audio and video of the episode to the news media, and the recordings were uploaded to YouTube.
About 10 minutes into the encounter, as the likelihood of any arrest appeared to dissipate and Mr. Menhali was allowed to stand up, he collapsed on the pavement. An ambulance took him to St. John’s Medical Center, the police said; local news reports said he had been treated for minor injuries and released.
The warning from the Emirates government coincided with heightened security alerts in cities around the world after deadly terrorist attacks in Iraq, Bangladesh and Turkey further raised fears about the global reach of terrorism.
The Ohio episode, however, raised questions about the intense police response to a report of a man in Middle Eastern dress standing in a hotel lobby, speaking on a cellphone.
Julia A. Shearson, the executive director of the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in an interview Sunday: “It is shocking this happened. The bottom line is we understand the American people are on edge, and there’s definitely violence in the world, but we’ve come to this brute level of giving in to our fears.”
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She added, “We can defeat violence and terrorism if we get to the root cause of it, instead of victimizing 1.5 billion people around the world.”
Ms. Shearson also told The Independent that the way the police referred to Mr. Menhali’s clothing in their report — “as a criminal indicator” — was “very concerning.”
Avon officials apologized to Mr. Menhali Saturday night at the council’s Cleveland office. The mayor, Bryan K. Jensen, told Mr. Menhali, “There were some false accusations made against you, and those are regrettable.” The chief of the Avon police, Richard Bosley, said, “You should not have been put in that situation like you were.”
In a phone interview on Sunday, Mr. Jensen described the episode as “frustrating on our end” because “it could’ve been tragic.”
“Guns were drawn,” the mayor said. “When you make a false accusation, you put that person’s life in danger.” Mr. Menhali, he added, “was 100 percent innocent.”