RantCrush Top 5: March 20, 2017

Hassan Aden is a 30-year law enforcement veteran and former police chief from Greenville, North Carolina, who currently works as a consultant on criminal justice reform issues. He travels frequently for his job. But when he landed at JFK Airport in New York last week, CBP officers detained him in a back room. Apparently, his name was used as an alias by someone on “some watch list.” When he asked CBP agents how long he would be detained, they reportedly said he wasn’t being detained. Aden asked, “But I’m not free to leave–how is that not a detention?”

By this point, Aden had already missed his connecting flight, his passport had been confiscated, and he was not allowed to use the phone. After 90 minutes, Aden was released. But the incident made him, and many others, question the future of this country. He pointed out that if he could be targeted just for having a Muslim-sounding name, anyone could: “No one is safe from this type of unlawful government intrusion.”

Most ppl affected by @CustomsBorder practices aren’t police chiefs, but even police chief who knows and asserts his rights was detained. https://t.co/q0pZaJ3qLY

— Cecillia Wang (@WangCecillia) March 19, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.