(Balt. Police) Agent: Baltimore Ravens LB Fein Was Profiled (thought cell phone was gun)

[sabra]

Source: AP

BALTIMORE (AP)- The agent for Baltimore Ravens undrafted rookie Tony Fein says the linebacker's weekend arrest in Baltimore was the result of police profiling.

Fein was arrested and charged Sunday with assaulting a police officer.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says Fein was eating at Johnny Rockets when a security officer thought he saw him pass a handgun to a friend. It turned out to be a cell phone.

Guglielmi says that when police questioned Fein, he became belligerent and shoved the officer.

But Fein's agent, Milton Dee Hobbs, says it was the officer who was aggressive and that Fein didn't shove him. Hobbs says police approached Fein because he was a black man wearing a sweat suit and hoodie.

Read more: http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=10980799&nav=MXEa

[flakey_foont]

1. just a phone

calling Dr. Howard, calling Dr. Fein...calling Dr. Howard

[WriteDown]

2. He was mistaken for Plaxico Burress. nt.

[katkat]

3. yeah,

Yeah, the police are always coming up to me, an old white woman, in restaurants when I lend a friend my cell phone.

[vadawg]

4. yeah i would come up to you, if someone else informed me you had passed a gun

seems in this case the security officer was the one who reported a gun was passed and the officer did their job in questioning the dude.

[Ysabela]

5. Amazing how the apologists think racial profiling is a cop's job. n/t

[vadawg]

no my job is responding when someone reports a weapon being passed around

we turn up, check whats happening then leave if everything is cool, cant see were any racial profiling came in here, unless theres some code that i cant see.

[Rebubula]

6. And...

...amazing how people want to ignore the fact that the cop was called because someone else had 'seen' a gun.

A cop is obligated to check out any wrongdoing. He did not profile; perhaps the security guard did - but the cop was just doing his job.

Of course, to some people here that means that he was being a racist asshole - regardless of the facts.

[GillesDeleuze]

11. if someone calls the cops, then laws no longer apply, right?

Cops and their apologists make me sick.

[Rebubula]

16. OK...

...you have made yourself clear.

You hate cops...we get that.

Unless you need one of course....

[cyndensco]

14. Ok, the cop gets the tip and checks out any wrongdoing.

Once he realizes HE is WRONG - or the TIP is WRONG - why is the innocent arrested?

Does a cop expect people who are minding their business to accept police harassment? I would think cops, who are there to serve and protect, would be able to overlook "belligerence" when THEY are the ones who are mistaken.

Damn, instead of arresting the cell phone carrier, the cop should have retreated with his tail between his legs, IMO.

[AtheistCrusader]

23. The cops weren't mistaken.

The security guard who called it in was mistaken.

The remaining question is, what happened when the officers interviewed him. Was he actually belligerent, and did he make physical contact with the officer, or did the officer just fuck him over for protesting his innocence.

That question appears to be unanswered at this point.


On the first point, the security guard should face some consequences for bearing false witness.

[cyndensco]

25. The tip was mistaken, thus the cop was mistaken.

When the cop realized the tip/HE was mistaken, I think he should have apologized to Mr. Fein for disturbing his peace. End of story.

As for the security guard, it is possible profiling played a role in his perception that the cell phone was a gun. Still, the cop is the one responsible for diffusing the situation since he/the tip was what instigated it.

I preach to my sons to be respectful to cops if/when they encounter them - just survive the situation. I think cops should learn how to deal with the public - maybe even understand why someone might be pissed - and NOT ARREST people they falsely accuse of a crime.

[AtheistCrusader]

26. Not at all.

The cops were not mistaken, period. They were responding to an accusation, which turned out to be false. The mistake is not theirs at all.

In any case, it is entirely possible for the suspect to do something that would incur a charge of disorderly conduct, assaulting an officer or whatever, in the course of the Police Officers investigating the accusation.

If someone wrongly accuses you of having an ounce of heroin on your person, and the police begin to question you, and you blow up, yell at them, and maybe shove one of the officers, it doesn't matter that you didn't have the heroin. You're going to jail.

If people would just cooperate when questioned or lawfully searched, most encounters would end just fine. It would also be nice if people were held to account for false accusations.

[cyndensco]

29. If someone accused me of having an ounce of heroin on my person

and a cop questioned me about it, I believe I would cooperate - not out of respect, but out of fear and distrust. I would be in survival mode.

I agree that the security guard should be held accountable if he made a false accusation maliciously. I also agree the falsely accused should cooperate with the police - most would probably avoid arrest or worse.

I also agree the cop was not wrong responding to an accusation. He was doing his job. I do think his job also involves keeping the peace. If Mr. Fein did not attack him on the spot, which I doubt he did, I think the cop should have been able to quell the situation. The arrest, his inability to keep the peace and move on, IMO, was the cop's mistake.

I hope there is videotape of the encounter.

[GillesDeleuze]

10. racists go on my ignore list. n/t

[Rebubula]

17. As do...

....people who accuse others of racism for stating an opinion counter to yours.

Racism is real, my friend. However, not everything is racism and yelling 'racism' because someone disagrees with you is pretty weak and childish.

Welcome to MY ignore.

[CreekDog]

18. and if an officer approaches me to ask about a bogus report

what do i say? and is he/she automatically going to believe the report anyway?

if he/she thinks i have a gun (or passed one) what point is there is saying, "i did no such thing"?

i'm getting the feeling i shouldn't answer at all.

i feel sorry for black folks who get this kind of harassment and bogus reports about what they did exponentially more than white folks do.

[AtheistCrusader]

27. You don't have to answer.

You must identify yourself, and that's about it. Know your rights.

If you don't consent to a search, and they paw you anyway, don't physically resist. You won't win. But you might win later in court, if they fail to prove probable cause, and any evidence they collected is thrown out.


If you want to answer, just don't fail the attitude test. Yes sir, No sir, etc. If you piss the officers off, they will probably make you very sorry.

[pennylane100]

12. me too,

why do they profile us because we are old ladies.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. It could have been both

Politically incorrect video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlzoL-wQwio

[awnobles]

8. Not enough info

to know whose at fault or what was done in the article. The only facts we have are that he was arrested for assaulting an officer called by a security gaurd and that the security gaurd's reason for calling the cop turned out to be a mistake. The point is that a guy went to jail for pissing off a cop. Until thare are witnesse or video this is just simply another unfortunate incident where citizens are jailed first and questions are asked later.

[jonestonesusa]

9. It's just another incident because as a whole,

the majority of Americans have no real interest in preventing racial profiling - reports of it often elicit skepticism or a yawn, as it apparently did for you. We, as a nation, do not have enough curiosity to gather information on what people of color experience in America in order to enforce civil rights law based on what is found. Collectively, we relegate the issue to he-said/she-said and do not take the perspectives seriously from people of color who live with these issues everyday.

So, if this is your viewpoint, own it proudly - no excuses.

[vadawg]

13. Yawn, ill yawn due to the fact that without all the info we dont know if it was profiling

all we know is that the guard reported a gun, the police arrived, he assaulted a cop, he was arrested, now was the cop black, white, yellow, green etc etc,

[jonestonesusa]

15. Precisely my point...

that collectively as Americans, we are not interested in the issue of racial profiling, so we're happy to relegate a situation like this to he said/she said and go on with our daily business. Our lack of vigilance insures that our law enforcement as well as other social practices will have unequal outcomes.

Did I at any point say that "I know this was racial profiling"?

At least you own up to your disinterest in justice for all - I'll give you that.

[vadawg]

19. no americans in general dont go looking for shit that isnt there

if you want to shout racial profiling even if you have no evidence, then go ahead. The majority of people will go on with their business thinking that everytime you shout racial profiling that there you go again. problem is without the facts we cant give either the cop or the subject justice, so its better to reserve judgement unti you have all the facts..

[jonestonesusa]

30. As before, I get your view...

that racial profiling is largely a figment of certain people's imaginations, and more sensible Americans choose well to show little interest or concern about the issue.

Again, you cannot show me where I "shouted" racial profiling or prejudged the conclusion in this particular case, because I did neither of those. I recognize racial profiling as a justice issue based on the everyday experience of many citizens of color in this country and the historic racial and ethnic divides in police treatment that endure today, and I recognize that to address the issue requires consistent concern and interest, including collecting and valuing witness perspectives. This really should be an uncontroversial statement on a progressive site, but not everyone's idea of progressive is the same. Some of us here sound pretty contented with the status quo and specifically skeptical about the experiences many people of color report in the justice system.

But you're in good company. Delayed justice...it's the American way.

[WriteDown]

32. This is definitely not racial profiling...

Its NFL profiling. :rofl:

[bc3000]

20. No, we don't know that

"all we know is that the guard reported a gun, the police arrived, he assaulted a cop"

The cop reported that he was assaulted, but we don't know if that is true. Maybe it is, maybe it's not. What we do know is that charges like disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer, etc are often used by the police to arrest people when they don't have a legitimate charge.

It wouldn't surprise me if the assault charge is dropped now that the case is getting some press, just like the disorderly conduct charge for Professor Gates was dropped.

What we can say for a fact is that if this guy was not a professional football player then nobody would ever know the truth. The case would suffer no real scrutiny and another black man would be headed to jail for a crime that wasn't a crime until the police showed up and didn't get the respect that their overblown egos demand.

[Wizard777]

22. It's profiling. Recently two people were shot at harbor place where this restaurant is.

The Police Commissioner has officers stepping up efforts against gangs. I guess now any black man is a gang member. Unless it's a black man with money. What more proof do you need he's a drug dealer? So therefore any shiny objects must be a gun. But the good news is no one was shot in this incident. Baltimore city police usually don't find out it's cell phone until after they have killed the person holding it.

[WriteDown]

33. Considering the percentage...

of NFL players that have brushes with the law, I can understand why there'd be NFL profiling. :rofl:

[Raineyb]

36. Right because a white man would be assumed to be passing a gun when a cell phone is the more likely

object to be in hand in such a situation.

You're either utterly ignorant or full of shit.

[liberalhistorian]

37. The particular poster you're replying

to is both, frankly, as he's shown so many times on other posts and threads.

[Raineyb]

35. The majority of people have no real interest in preventing racial profiling

because it will not happen to them. Two white men passing something small and dark between them are assumed to be passing a cell phone. When a black man is involved it's thought to be a gun. This (in)security guard (bloody rent-a-cop) wouldn't have made such an accusation if we were talking about two white men. Why? Because black people in this country are assumed to be doing something sinister while white people are assumed to be innocent in the same situation. And then black people are told that we're supposed to just put up with this type of bullshit and take it.

Of course the apologists for the police will loudly bleat that race has nothing to do with this incident.

They will, as per usual, be completely wrong and utterly full of shit.

[Historic NY]

21. and for all those 24/7 concealed carry people don't be passing a gun around...

he should have said he was a birther & 2nd amendment follower case closed.

[marasinghe]

24. touche' (n/t)

[RantinRavin]

34. Considering what was passed was seen

it couldn't be concealed, now could it....

[Stinky The Clown]

28. This was in the wake of several gun incidents - and shootings - at Baltimore's premier tourist .....

...... spot in the last few days. The police are on a hair trigger.

That's not an excuse for them. It is a criticism.

[MadMaddie]

31. The security guard was probably scared

The officer showed up and determined it was a cell phone.

Sound familiar, police officer shows up and determines the black home owner is the actual resident of the home.

That is where both stories should have ended, period.

The root of the problem is illegal GUNS flooding the streets.
The citizens and the police are on edge and until the root of the problem is dealt with more more people will die needlessly.