<p>I posted this on another thread on CC:
"I think you’re missing the point here. Conflicts and disagreements happen everyday at every campus across the US. This is not simply an issue of - he said, she said - but rather an egregious example of an inept campus administration and judicial structure. There is no disputing the timeline:</p>
<p>“A couple hours later, one of the officers located Dahir in a study room on his residence hall . . . . Dahir was handcuffed and searched, and taken to a magistrate . . . After 17 hours in jail, Dahir was released on $2,500 bond.”</p>
<p>Close to 24 hour later the administration finally gets involved. I would think that before the police are summoned to arrest a student in their dorm, there would be some protocol that would say that the administration sanctioned this drastic step.</p>
<p>I think the point is that no one will know what actually was said/implied in this college squabble, however, as a parent I want to know how a university deals with this kind of situation. Again, where were the Library administrators? Where was the Dean of Students when one of their students/RAs is arrested in the dorm and brought to jail for 17 hours. I’m told, this is not an isolated incident. There are some serious issues with the judicial and resident-life departments at this school.</p>
<p>Without knowing anything about this young woman (did she refer to him as a “Muslim” repeatedly? Use racial descriptions repeatedly? I don’t know, maybe I should reread the article), it is not “obvious” that she wouldn’t have called the cops on a white person who behaved in the same manner as the young man in question.</p>
<p>EDIT:</p>
<p>Okay, I’ve gone back and read the links and find this in the CNN link:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Who is this “friend and coworker?” How did this coworker happen to have countless exact quotes from the entire incident? How are we to know how accurate this “report” is? Are we to assume that every word is correct, that this piece is an accurate and objective restatement of the facts of the incident?</p>
<p>I’m sure that racism and anti-Muslim sentiment is still alive and well on campuses across the nation. I do not find the rather salacious retelling of these events in this “article” to be proof of anything other than that there was a very vicious disagreement over “ownership” of a study room and the police’s handling of said event is now under scrutiny.</p>
<p>Doubt the girl picked that study room because she knew that someone who was Muslim had stuff in there. Would have done the same to anyone, in my opinion.</p>
<p>I read the facts not knowing that Abhi was Black, and reflexively (sorry I was not aware of whether his name was any indication of his race or religion), I mentally pictured the scenario unfolding with him as a White or Middle-eastern man. I don’t think the result would have been any different if he had not been Black or Muslim.</p>
<p>Imo, his big mistake was challenging the police to their faces and at the station. I learned at a very young age never to do this, even for a traffic stop. It will only escalate the situation, which is what happened here. If you have an issue with a cop, just keep your mouth shut and deal with it after you have retained a lawyer. If Abdi had left the library once he was challenged by the police, it might have been an unfair result, but it would have ended there.</p>
<p>Avoidance of escalating ANY volatile situation is smart…whether you are “in the right” or not. Once a volatile situation heats up, you really have no control over where it will go.</p>
<p>You’ve got to choose your battles though. As I’m not convinced that we have a “right” to a study carrel for as long as we want it, I don’t know that making a federal case out of it was the best action, but that’s just me.</p>
<p>I agree with nrdsb4 that you have to weigh the pros and cons. In this case, he’s lost his job, got himself arrested and wasted all this time on this matter that he really needed to spend on his paper–and all this for the right to a study room?</p>
<p>After he tried to dislodge the girl and failed, I would have gone down to library administration and asked for their help. </p>
<p>I do fault the girl for calling the cops, though. It should have been handled in house. She probably threatened to call the cops and he basically called her bluff.</p>
<p>ellemenope, I think I would have called the cops if I were alone in a room with an agitated person - the second the person reached for the door lock, no matter what the person claimed his/her intentions were.</p>
<p>It appears to me he was probably agitated and angry and given the choice of whom to take away from the situation it will usually be the male, period unless the male called the cops and said he was being threatened. Just the way it is–call it sexist but unless they agreed to calm down and asked the cops to leave somebody is getting taken away. At public schools the cops have full authority on campus just like any other public place. Very different than on a private campus. Most public campus guards are also sworn officers–real cops and most private school ones are not.</p>
<p>Being agitated is not against the law. Especially when you are causing the other person to be agitated. Would you punch someone and then call the police b/c the person you punched is agitated?</p>
<p>so right after the girl called, the guy should’ve called the police to report his stolen property that was no longer where he left it, and to report the description of the suspect?</p>
<p>You are missing my point. The key words here are “reaches for the lock”. That would be the signal for me that the guy is up to no good. </p>
<p>Sorry, your arguments do not make much sense. A person has no right to hit someone, but a person is entitled to a 911 call if s/he feels threatened.</p>
<p>It is a sad fact that murders do happen on college campuses, even in secured buildings (remember the murdered Yale student?).</p>
<p>According to the description of events in post #6, the girl had already called the police before the guy went near the lock. After he locked the deadbolt to prop the door open, she called the police a second time. I don’t think she felt threatened–she told him she intended on getting him into a lot of trouble. That would be an incredibly stupid thing to say to someone you thought was going to hurt you.</p>
<p>I think I would have left the room, frankly. Forget about the study room!</p>
<p>As Stevensmama mentioned, she called the police the first time (to get him in trouble). When he messed with the door lock (stupid!), she called the police the second time.</p>
<p>Note to self: prop the door open with a chair the next time…</p>
<p>"if a male locks a door open, you can call the police</p>
<p>right. sexism is alive and well."</p>
<p>Missing the point again. Did he clearly state, in a calm, rational tone, “I’m going to make sure that the door does not accidentally lock” or did he simply reach for the lock? How would she know what his intentions were? She did the right thing by calling the cops then. (Her initial 911 call, which I’m not talking about here, was questionnable and unjustified). And, elemennope, if an angry guy grabs a chair and starts waiving it around, I’d call the cops, too. Of course, I would attempt to leave the room, but if the guy was standing by the door, I would not do that without talking to a 911 dispatcher on my cell phone while trying to get my way past the guy.</p>
<p>I cannot believe people are arguing about what sequence the door was locked when the ONLY account being referenced is a second or third hand account posted by a student who is relating an event she heard from a “friend and coworker.” Again, there are extensive quotes attributed to the principals here-how did this “coworker” come to have such a perfect memory of all events and conversations? Are we actually to believe the quotes are truly verbatim representations of the event? Seriously?!?!?!?</p>
<p>The way the entire “report” was written reminds me of something out of a gossip rag or the National Enquirer.</p>