Well I just saw something weird. Three young middle eastern men walked up to the Huntsman Cancer Institute, pointing at the rooftops of that building as well as accompanying buildings. One of the gentlemen had either binoculars or a camera hanging from a lanyard. Granted, the building is next to Red Butte, which is a gorgeous area. Then again, the gentlemen were all wearing blue jeans and one wore a really heavy head dressings and a traditional beard. They either weren't hiking, or they're not very intelligent when it comes to hiking in a desert. I didn't query the men 'by the way are you Muslim or Indian, I can't quite tell from this distance', (concerning the head dressing). Also there's a chance that three men were just trying to get a view of the valley, sure. I was really taken aback, however that the gentlemen seemed to be focused on the rooftops above them, not the valley floor beneath them (ie, looking across the valley at the Oquirrhs, or at Great Salt Lake, etc.). I ended up calling the Sheriff, who forwarded me to the city police, who tried to forward me to the University Police (HCI is a research facility of the University of Utah). Before I ended up sending Bob and Bill up on a wild chase where they got stuck at the sev' for 30 minutes, I decided to go ahead and call the suits. I called the FBI, who, it turns out, were actually interested in my call. They took all of the relevant information, and said they'd pursue it. Here's the crux: I just knowingly profiled someone based on their race. Was it wrong to do so?
Yea, you profiled them, but really, Heb, I doubt that you thought about being sensitive to stuff like that when you saw them up there. You probably had your adrenaline pumping, and when that happens, how many people are going to think of stuff like that?? Besides if anyone is doing something suspicious, regardless if they are white, black, Arab, Muslim, Jew, polka-dot, striped, Martian, etc., I would have done exactly the same thing in reporting it to the authorities.
I wouldn't call it racial profiling. Besides, wasn't their behavior suspicious? It seems like it, so that should be enough for a call anyway. JMO.
I mean they should be hassled and detained for what they did. Maybe even beaten a little. The had the nerve to point at buildings and have cameras d*mn those touris . . i mean Terrorist Rocket River
My thoughts exactly! I don't know, it just seems like they should. It would be different if only Middle Eastern people got checked at airports for no other reason except of their race. It sounded like these guys were looking kind of suspicious. Hey, if someone could call the cops because of loud music, why not this? I should probably shut up. I'm not good at this stuff.
sheesh... I guess I better not point to cool things I see in the sky or at rooftops of buildings from now on... or I better expect to get harassed by cops and the FBI, eh? Sucks to be brown, even though I am not Muslim or middle eastern, but just plain old Indian... but since people can't tell the difference, I think I'll stare at the ground from now on when in public and not speak to anyone...
Why didn't you just go outside and look for yourself? It's not like it wasn't in broad daylight or anything. There were a bunch of Hispanic guys hanging out on the sidewalk in front of my neighbor's house the other day. I asked them what they were doing (politely) and it turned out they were installing new water meters. I'm guessing the police have enough to do.
remember yall this is Utah he is talking about, things are pretty quite at the worst of times, so keep that in mind before quelling Heb's excitement!!!
Jeff, why are you pointing out that those guys were Hispanic? Is it not normal for Hispanics to be in your neighborhood? Just curious. I don't know about the police having enough to do....unless you mean trying to hit their ticket quota. But he did end up calling the FBI instead of the police, fwiw.
I pointed it out because he titled the thread "crime fighter or racial profiler?". If there were a bunch of white guys in front of my neighbor's house and I asked them what they were doing, there wouldn't be much chance of me racial profiling. Since my area is 75 percent Hispanic and numerous neigbors are Hispanic, that isn't an issue. I actually would go out there and ask if they were any race. My point was just that it is often easier, particularly if this is in the middle of the day and there are people around, just to walk over an ask. I don't fault him for his curiosity or his concern. I just think there are usually more simple solutions particularly given the tourist-y nature of his surroundings.
<b>Jeff</b>: If your neighborhood is 75% Hispanic, pointing up white guys certainly would be racial profiling... or am I missing something? Are white people exempt from racial profiling. When they put out an APB for OJ Simpson a few years ago, did they profile him racially? How about those two men that stole that little boy in California last week; we were told to be on the look out for two either black or Hispanic men. Isn't that racial profiling? <b>Achebe</b>: I think you did the right thing. You reported suspicious behavior. It can't be helped that the suspects, in general, we are looking for happen to be Arab-looking. Exactly what race is that?
Jeff: If the 3 guys were actually members of Al-Quaeda, and Achebe decided to walk up and ask them what they were doing, do you think their response would be "just scouting out potential places for terrorist activity, why do you ask?"?
drapg, what do you think might have been cool about these buildings' rooftops? I'm just curious. I assume the men could have all been engineers or architects, but for me to assume that would have been also racial profiling. Exactly what I was thinking DaDakota. I could have written this thing off, but then it occurred to me that we're coming upon a certain anniversary. It wouldn't be very cute, were something to actually happen, to remark "oh, I uhhh saw something, but I thought that it was more important to be politically correct than to be wary of bizarre activity". Just to point out, I was outside, I was leaving work (it is labor day and all ). As I was walking to my car, these gentlemen were walking up past us (my wife and I work at the same place). When we got to the car, we looked back to notice that the gentlemen were pointing specifically up at HCI (20' from the side of the 6 story building), directly underneath a surveillance camera. Then they pointed out across a series of buildings that are geographically beneath the base of HCI. The buildings beneath HCI are pretty dated, so I'm not sure what the heck was going on. I'll also point out that I didn't ask the gentlemen what they were doing, b/c at the time I was unaware of that huge weakness of terrorists: the inability to lie. Fundamentalist terrorists have such high morals, that we'll eventually root them out by merely asking "hey, what are you doing? Are you a terrorist?". Next time I'll let the dispatchers stick to dispatching to the proper jurisdiction, and the fed guys to shooting unarmed tax evaders. Smeg, ROTFLMAO
hey, i'm not blaming you, you gotta do what you gotta do to be safe and have a clear conscious... i understand that... but for me, a brown innocent u.s. born citizen, i think i'd better stay indoors and avoid contact with nonbrown people from now on, for my own well being... if little things I do are being scrutinzed without my knowledge... as a man that comes from a family of people who revel in engineering, math, and science... we enjoy discussing structures from bridges to skyscrapers... i guess i'll just tell my family to stop doing that b/c we don't want the FBI at our door. that's all.
Even if you were racialy profiling them it isn't a big deal. I believe in racial profiling. It's better being safe then sorry.
