Muslim Activist Detained After Refusing Staten Island Ferry Bag Check, Predictability Ensues By Patrick Poole
https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/2017/03/09/muslim-activist-detained-after-refusing-staten-island-ferry-bag-check-predictability-ensues/
Self-styled “community organizer” and “civil rights activist” Hesham El-Meligy was detained earlier today by the NYPD after refusing a bag search while attempting to board the Staten Island Ferry.
Predictably, El-Meligy is claiming racial profiling and “Islamophobia,” and insisting his rights were denied. But fellow Staten Islanders are pushing back on his claims.
A religious and political activist on Staten Island claims he was placed in handcuffs, frisked and issued two summonses by NYPD officers based on the way he looks.
Hesham El-Meligy, a Muslim who was born in Egypt, was temporarily detained and searched by police at about 8 a.m. Wednesday at the Staten Island Ferry terminal in St. George, after he refused a random bag check.
After a search of his backpack, he was issued summonses for trespassing and disorderly conduct and allowed on to the ferry, police said Thursday.
El-Meligy, founder of the Islamic Civic Association on Staten Island and chairman of the Staten Island Libertarian Party, said he believes the bag check wasn’t so random.
He took to Facebook hours after the incident, saying he felt singled out because his Egyptian heritage.
“I have no doubt that many (people) are in fact stopped randomly, but the manner this was done in my particular case made it feel different,” said El-Meligy.
But at least one eyewitness to El-Meligy’s detention disputes his account:
Comments are closed.
