According to a former police chief, he was racially profiled at JFK Airport, when flying back to New York from a trip to Paris. According to the Washington Post, Hassan Aden, 52, posted on his Facebook page Saturday to let his followers know about the incident, where he was taken into a back room at the airport for questioning. The retired Greenville, N.C. police chief said he had been visiting Paris to celebrate his mother’s 80th birthday. Upon arrival back at JFK Airport in New York on March 15, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers took him aside.
They then took him into a back room where he was questioned for an hour and a half. Reportedly the officers said his name matched an alias used by someone on a watch list. The officers eventually cleared him for entry into the country.
Racial profiling at the airport for former top cop
According to ABC News, before becoming chief of the Greenville Police Department, Aden spent 26 years with the Alexandria Police Department. In fact, Aden said in the post that, as a U.S. citizen, he served in law enforcement for almost 30 years. He feels that being detained at the airport due to his name is “unlawful detention” and “racial profiling.”
Aden’s post went on to explain that after he retired from his job as Chief of Police, he founded a successful consulting firm.
That firm is mostly involved in various aspects of police and criminal justice reform. He added that he consults with Federal Court officials and high level officials in the Department of Justice on an almost daily basis. Aden also said that under the previous administration, he often attended meetings at the White House, giving advice on national police policy reforms.
Former police chief said US "now feels cold, unwelcoming" and that "no one is safe" after he was detained at JFK. https://t.co/Jo9xG6B3Q2
— Talal Ansari (@TalalNAnsari) March 19, 2017
Despite having that extensive background, Aden feels he was profiled at the airport due to the policies of the current administration. According to Aden, if it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone else with certain attributes, such as Muslim names.
Former police chief concerned about the future of America
After his experience at the airport, Aden says he now feels vulnerable and is now questioning whether America is, indeed, his home. Having had his freedoms restricted as they were, it worries him that a similar situation could happen to anyone in his family should they travel overseas. He added that the level of hate and injustice, formerly only felt in more vulnerable communities, is now affecting the rest of the country.
Similar incidents at airports in the country have occurred recently. Among them, Muhammad Ali, Jr., son of the champion boxer, was detained not once, but twice when passing through airports during his travels.
