Muslims continue to bear the brunt of Islamophobia that has taken over America under Donald Trump, the latest in the fray is a former police chief who was detained at a US airport just because he had a Muslim name. Hassan Aden, a retired police chief from Greenville, North Carolina, was detained for an hour and a half at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York . The incident took place on March 13 when the 51-year-old was returning from Paris after celebrating his mother’s 80th birthday.
Aden, who has been a US citizen for 42 years and served the police force for 26 years, took to Facebook to vent his ire over detention by law enforcement officials, he wrote that he was deatained for 90 minutes just because he shared a name with someone who was on a watch list.
The former chief said that an officer named Chow looked at him with a gruff expression when he handed him his passport and simply stated ‘are you traveling alone?’”.
“I knew this was a sign of trouble,” and when he answered yes, Officer Chow told him “let’s take a walk,” he added.
“I spent nearly 30 years serving the public in law enforcement. Since I retired as the Chief of Police in Greenville, NC, I founded a successful consulting firm that is involved in virtually every aspect of police and criminal justice reform. I interface with high level U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Court officials almost daily. Prior to this administration, I frequently attended meetings at the White House and advised on national police policy reforms-all that to say that If this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone with attributes that can be ‘profiled.’ No one is safe from this type of unlawful government intrusion.”
Even famous Muslim names are not being spared by law enforcement agencies under the Trump administration. Muhammad Ali’s son, Muhammad Ali Jr., was quizzed at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., on March 10 where, he was held for 20 minutes while his identity was confirmed. He along with his mother was also detained by Customs and Border Patrol in early February, immediately after President Donald Trump issued the infamous executive order now known as the “Muslim Ban.”
