Me on the Other End of a Police/Photography Incident

I think I see what you're saying, Monty, that if I felt that these people were suspicious, then they are just suspicious and I shouldn't even have to mention the fact that these people were Middle Eastern because it's not necessary and shouldn’t be a factor.

But honestly, it IS a factor. Now I'm not saying that the US is the big victim in the world, far from it. I'm certainly not saying that all Middle Easterners, or even a majority of them, are terrorists, pro-terrorist, or even anti-American.

Though Australia has some troops deployed as well, the fact remains that the US is at war with two countries right now, and also at war against a terror group with worldwide range that does not wear a uniform and is not clearly identifiable. What are we left to do but profile in SOME way?

A couple weeks ago, a man with Al Qaeda connections was arrested less than one mile from me on Ash Avenue in Flushing. Right here in my town.

A close friend of my sister came home from Iraq last week...riddled with scars from a roadside bomb. I'm shocked he's alive.

Again, not playing the victim, but the war is a lot closer to home here in NY than you think, even long after 9/11. Because of this, what was already a very suspicious act to me on that bridge regardless of that couple's race, WAS in fact heightened by the fact that they were Middle Eastern. NOT because of Hollywood's or the media's influence, but because I had a neighbor in my town that was working towards killing Americans (not the first time in my town either by any means), and because the guy that taught me how to take a jump shot a when I was younger now has a silver-dollars sized section of scar tissue on his neck, an inch off his jugular.

I have NO beef with Middle Easterners. But when I see something like what these people were doing, with their angry faces and my gut not allowing me to let my concern pass, I WILL profile.

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I think I see what you're saying, Monty, that if I felt that these people were suspicious, then they are just suspicious and I shouldn't even have to mention the fact that these people were Middle Eastern because it's not necessary and shouldn’t be a factor.

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correct...at the end of the day you don't know for sure they were middle eastern, that's what i'm getting at, they could have been Italian Muslims, Greek Muslims, Spanish, North African...you can't cast the assertion of someones ethnicity by a cursory glance.

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Though Australia has some troops deployed as well, the fact remains that the US is at war with two countries right now, and also at war against a terror group with worldwide range that does not wear a uniform and is not clearly identifiable. What are we left to do but profile in SOME way?

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the US is more at war with Iraq then it is with Al Qaida...5 years and the mastermind behind 9/11 still roams around and doesn't seem to be a concern to the administration...in a bizarre way i think the US govt prefers to have him on the loose, it's there way of using him to instill fear into the people and hold power over them. I have no beef with the war in Afghanistan or the against the Al Qaida, unfortunately it seems to have taken second place to a mess in Iraq. Australia lost people at the hands of Al Qaida in WTC attacks, Bali, London and Madrid and i'm all for the destruction of Al Qaida...it just seems it's getting further away then ever before.

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WAS in fact heightened by the fact that they were Middle Eastern.

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and that's where you set yourself up for criticism, you've got no evidence that they were middle eastern, Islam isn't confined to just one region of the world! I take it you identified them as being of the Islamic faith by there clothing etc? that's fair enough and maybe self evident, i wasn't there...but your make a bad call saying they are from a region when you have NO proof of that.

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I have NO beef with Middle Easterners. But when I see something like what these people were doing, with their angry faces and my gut not allowing me to let my concern pass, I WILL profile.

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you've allowed the actions of a few to cloud your judgement. you may not have a beef with moslems but you are inclined to think the worst. That's pretty scarey mate, everyone deserves to be judged equally, are you going to judge me because i look like the guy down the road who killed an 8 y/o girl without reason, not everyone has bad intetions.

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you don't know for sure they were middle eastern

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I live all around Midlde Easterners. I know the cultural clothing and I can tell. It's not racist to look at someone wearing the known cultural clothing on a Middle Eastern Muslim and think that they are a Middle Eastern Muslim.

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you've got no evidence that they were middle eastern, Islam isn't confined to just one region of the world

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I do have evidence that they were Middle Eastern. As I said earlier in this post, I know what Middle Easterners look like and dress like and all that. I live in the most diverse town in the entire world, literally. I can tell the difference between people, and whether or not someone is Middle Eastern or Italian.

What does an Italian muslim have to do with anything though? Wherever they are from, that doesn't change the fact that they were of Middle Eastenr ancestry and were wearing Muslim clothing.

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the US is more at war with Iraq then it is with Al Qaida...5 years and the mastermind behind 9/11 still roams around

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That's a political topic that has nothing to do with what I said or this thread.

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you may not have a beef with moslems but you are inclined to think the worst.

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"The worst", in regards to me suspicions, had nothing to do with his ethnicity. I was concerned enough without that being a factor.

If someone is doing what they were doing, the way they were dong it, and my gut insisting that something was a little off, then I'd call the cops anyway...white, black, green, whatever. If they happen to fit the cultural category of a people that has a measurable following in the world that hates the US and our Western culture, then that WILL add a bit to my suspicion as well, albeit a small factor.

Phil, you did the right thing. If they are legit then they have nothing to worry about. If not then maybe your call could lead to a cell working in NYC.

Something as simple as this as already lead to breaking up cells.

Thanks Phil.