Monday, March 20, 2017

Former Police Chief Says He Was Detained at JFK Airport Because of His Name



Welcome to Trump World.

This is really worse than "Papers please!"

The Washington Post reports:
A former Alexandria deputy police chief says he was detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport and held for 90 minutes earlier this month because of his name.

Hassan Aden, 52, of Alexandria spent 26 years with the Alexandria Police Department before leaving in 2012 to become chief of police in Greenville, N.C. He retired from the 250-person force in 2015.

Aden says he was returning from Paris on March 13, where he had been celebrating his mother’s 80th birthday.

When he arrived at customs at JFK, he expected to be handed back his passport and told “welcome home” like everyone else. Instead, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer asked him: “Are you traveling alone?” Aden replied he was and the officer said, “Let’s take a walk,” in Aden’s recollection.

“I was like ‘oh boy, here we go’ ” said Aden, an Italian-born naturalized American citizen who has lived in the United States for 42 years.

He said he was escorted to a makeshift office, prohibited from using his cellphone and given little information about the reason for the holdup. At one point, Aden said, he asked an officer how much time could pass for a detention to be considered reasonable. The officer replied that Aden wasn’t being detained.

But inside the room, where there were three desks staffed by CBP employees and two dozen chairs, signs read “Remain seated at all times” and “Use of telephones strictly prohibited.”

“Two signs that this was not voluntary; this was indeed a detention,” Aden said.

Aden said he told an officer that he was a retired police chief and a career law enforcement officer, but the man said that he had “no control” over the situation and that it “didn’t matter” what his job was. Another officer explained that someone on a “watch list” had been using Aden’s name as an alias, and his information was being cross-checked with another agency, Aden said.
I was told over the weekend by an immigration attorney that Homeland Security agents in general feel embolden by President Trump and are becoming much more aggressive in general. They hold the view that the Trump administration won't challenge them when they step over the line when it comes to illegal stops.

As for harassment at US international airports of incoming Americans and others, you have to wonder how bad it really is. Only the high profile stops are getting reported, seemingly on a weekly basis, such as Muhamed Ali Jr., the French holocaust historian Henry Russo, and now retired Police Chief Aden, but there are certainly multiple stops and harassments of individuals who don't have the notoriety to warrant coverage in the media of their stops and harassment.

Trump world is a world of bullies but, hey he's good on transgender federal bathroom regulation.

 -RW 

7 comments:

  1. "Only the high profile stops are getting reported..."

    It would be great if there were a website devoted to cataloging this kind of abuse, where the lowly as well as the famous could document their experiences.

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  2. The cop doesn't like being detained because of his name or color of his skin? Sorry pal, you more than most Americans helped create this police state. Enjoy the fruits of your labor Hassan.

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    Replies
    1. I also have a hard time feeling sympathy for this guy.

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    2. Some poetic justice with this particular episode

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  3. How often Aden acted in a similar fashion towards "suspects," before his retirement?

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  4. "Trump world is a world of bullies but, hey he's good on transgender federal bathroom regulation."

    You pays your price and you picks your poison.
    Do You want the Gestapo Homeland Security Bullies or do you want the Gay Gestapo Transgender bullies.
    (Neither is not an option).

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  5. "Another officer explained that someone on a “watch list” had been using Aden’s name as an alias, and his information was being cross-checked with another agency"

    A twist on the 'fit the description' standard lie cops use to stop and possibly detain people. No wonder he knows the detention was BS.

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