Charges weighed after Ohio incident triggers Emirati warning on robes

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

World | Mon Jul 4, 2016 3:49pm EDT

Charges weighed after Ohio incident triggers Emirati warning on robes

BY BARBARA GOLDBERG

The mayor of an Ohio town at the center of an incident that prompted the United Arab Emirates to warn citizens against wearing traditional robes abroad apologized and said on Monday some of those involved could face criminal charges.

Police in Avon, Ohio, last week pinned to the ground and handcuffed an Emirati businessman, Ahmed Al Menhali, after receiving reports he was pledging allegiance to Islamic State militants while speaking on his cellphone in a hotel lobby.

According to Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen and Julia Shearson, head of the local branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the 911 calls were placed by relatives of a female clerk at the hotel who was unnerved by his appearance.

"We came to find out that those statements were never heard by anyone, the statements were never said," Jensen told Reuters on Monday. "A person who makes a false accusation like that endangers not only the person that they are making them about but (also) it frustrates us and angers us that we're going into a situation that puts our police officers in a position they would never want to be in."

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-emirates-usa-arrest-idUSKCN0ZK1ZZ

[Duckhunter935]

1. Charges should be filed

Same shit got that kid killed at Walmart.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

2. It's going to be hard to show malice unless the callers implicate themselves.

The sister and father were making calls based on second hand information from the clerk. Like a bad game of "operator" but with AR-15s.

The fact remains the cops wayyyyyy over reacted.

There was never any reports of any violence or threats of violence. The only information the cops had was a man on a phone.

What the fuck ever happened to "send a car" and ascertain the situation? Instead they go in like there was an active shooter.

Furthermore, once they arrived and realized they had a businessman on the phone, they should have released him immediately. Instead, they went trhrough his belongings like a meth-house bust suspect and treated him very rudely.

Now the cops want to cover their ass.

Fuck that.

Like Keystone cops, but with steroids and AR-15s.

[Duckhunter935]

3. Yep, cops were way too hyped up

[Blue_Tires]

18. If nothing else, that female clerk needs to be outed and shamed

Jesus Fucking Christ I didn't even know 911 took secondhand calls about 'suspicious people' seriously, much less gear up like they were doing another Navy SEAL Bin Laden raid...

[Hassin Bin Sober]

19. I hope she gets fired.

[Blue_Tires]

20. Please... She'll probably get the key to the city

and an invitation to throw out the next first pitch at an Indians game

[Hassin Bin Sober]

21. Maybe. But the heat is on.

The cops are already trying to blame their absurd reaction on the clerk.

[Person 2713]

7. Exactly ! These hateful fucks are getting people hurt and killed making up shit to police

[No Vested Interest]

4. But Homeland Security has told Americans "See Something,

Say Something."
Doesn't Homeland Security know that many US citizens are :1. ignorant, 2. paranoid or 3. impulsive?

[Person 2713]

8. They saw and heard nothing . That has been determined.

[No Vested Interest]

9. In their minds, the clerk "saw something" - Middle-Eastern clothing, and heard

"foreign language " speech, which her relatives, at least, perceived to be a threat.

Maybe Homeland Security needs to be more specific about the "what" to say something about (i.e.-report to authorities.)

[LisaL]

5. Clerk didn't make these false allegations to the police. She supposedly made it to her relatives.

When relatives called 911, presumably they believed they were telling the truth.
So I fail to see what charges can be brought here.
Are they going to charge clerk for telling stories to her relatives? Is that illegal?

[Binkie The Clown]

6. And what happens when an American woman walks the streets of UAE in traditional American clothing?

If they want us to tolerate them (and we certainly should) then they should also tolerate us (which they should, but don't).

[Violet_Crumble]

11. Nothing. And certainly no tackling from police....

What's traditional American clothing, anyway?

[uponit7771]

12. +1

[Binkie The Clown]

13. Even female network journalists reporting from there cover their arms and head.

If you think an American woman could walk the streets with bare arms in the UAE then you are delusional.

Google "UAE Dress Code for Tourists" for a small taste of intolerance of normal American manner of dress.

[Violet_Crumble]

15. There's no dress code enforced for tourists in UAE...

I've seen plenty of tourists walking around with bare arms in the UAE. Even bikinis. Are you confusing UAE with Iran perhaps?

[Binkie The Clown]

16. That could be.

I was repeating something told to me by a friend who worked in the UAE in the 1970s and 80s. Perhaps things have changed. But Google still turns up a lot of images of signs proclaiming the public dress code.

[Bluenorthwest]

17. That's not really correct. If your clothing is not 'gender conforming' you will be arrested.

It's not a surprise that mainstream, straight folks think there are no rules, there are none for them. That's a function of privilege, not a proof of equality and justice.

[Night Watchman]

10. Video

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017390363

[tblue37]

14. They should be held responsible They essentially SWATted that poor guy.

Oh, and the aggressive cops should be disciplined and the PD and city should have to pay a significant settlement.

[Act_of_Reparation]

22. Human Rights Watch on UAE:

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) often uses its affluence to mask the government’s serious human rights problems. The government arbitrarily detains, and in some cases forcibly disappears, individuals who criticized the authorities, and its security forces face allegations of torturing detaineeds. A new anti-discrimination law further jeopardizes free speech and is discriminatory, as it excludes references to gender and sexuality. Authorities denied access to the country to activists who criticized the UAE’s mistreatment of migrant workers. Labor abuses persist, as migrant construction workers facing serious exploitation. Female domestic workers are excluded from regulations that apply to workers in other sectors.

https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/n-africa/united-arab-emirates

This guy deserves justice, but UAE officials being "dismayed" about how he was treated... don't make me laugh.