Police mistakenly describe Cascade Mall shooting suspect as ‘Hispanic’; protests erupt on Twitter

[riversedge]

I think it was so wrong for the police to put out that the suspect was Hispanic. So wrong.



http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/police-mistakenly-describe-cascade-mall-shooting-suspect-as-hispanic-protests-erupt-on-


Police mistakenly describe Cascade Mall shooting suspect as ‘Hispanic’; protests erupt on Twitter
Originally published September 24, 2016 at 10:16 pm Updated September 25, 2016 at 2:44 am

A controversy began brewing Friday night when Mount Vernon police described the suspect in the Cascade Mall shooting as a Hispanic male in his late teens to mid-20s with a close-shaved haircut.

By Lynn Jacobson
Seattle Times deputy managing editor

A controversy began brewing Friday night when Mount Vernon police described the suspect in the Cascade Mall shooting as a Hispanic male in his late teens to mid-20s with a close-shaved haircut.

By Saturday night, when police arrested Turkish immigrant Arcan Cetin in connection with the crime, it had reached a full boil on Twitter.

Some observers were angry that police had wrongly put out the word to look for someone who was Hispanic and that many media outlets — including The Seattle Times — repeated the description.
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[KT2000]

1. I think this is a hard call

Last edited Sun Sep 25, 2016, 09:38 PM - Edit history (1)

As I understand it, the eyewitnesses told the police he was Hispanic.
He was at large and the police were asking for assistance in finding him and also imploring people to be safe if they saw him. Several facilities had to be evacuated and they only knew he was walking toward the freeway.

I don't think the intention of this mistake was racism but rather a confusing scene that was unfolding fast. They did not know if he was out to kill more people. Mass murderers can be unpredictable that way.

Maybe it would be better to describe skin color/shade, hair color, approx. height and weight for the public's identification purposes and leave it at that.