Detroit Free Press
Detroit Free Press (MI)
October 13, 2001
SCOUTS DETAINED AFTER TRIP TO ISLAND FBI ORDERS CHECKS ON ARAB TEENS, LEADER
Author: EMILIA ASKARI FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Edition: METRO FINAL
Section: NWS
Page: 5A
Index Terms:
ARAB-AMERICAN
BOY SCOUT
DETAINMENT
RACIAL PROFILING
DISCRIMINATION
FBI
Estimated printed pages: 2
Article Text:
What started as a fun afternoon on Mackinac Island ended as a lesson in humiliation and fear for five Arab-American teenagers and their Boy Scout leader who say they were victims of racial stereotyping.
The scout leader trainees from Dearborn and their adult leader were detained, fudge bags in hand, for an hour and a half while the FBI ran background checks on them.
The Sept. 15 incident began when someone on Shepler's Mackinac Island Ferry called the MackinawCity police to report that suspicious-looking people were aboard the ferry, speaking in a foreign language, using walkie-talkies and taking pictures of the MackinacBridge. That day, scout leader Khalil Baydoun, who likes to go bow hunting, was wearing a camouflage jacket.
In the month since that sight-seeing trip went awry, the story of what happened to Baydoun and the boys has been making the rounds in Arab-American circles, indignation growing with each telling. This week, Baydoun said he decided to talk to reporters to educate America about what some Arab Americans have been feeling since the Sept. 11 attacks.
"The people who did the WorldTradeCenter, they're intruders into Islam," said Baydoun, 36, a Lebanese American who moved to the United States when he was 2. "No one ethnic or religious group should be singled out because of this."
Baydoun explained that the scout group had used the walkie-talkies to keep in contact while they were bicycling around the island.
At one point, a MackinawCity police officer told Baydoun that the FBI wanted him held until he produced his passport. He didn't have it; he had no plans to leave the country.
The boys, all born in the United States about 15 years ago, became scared, Baydoun said. He counseled the boys to remain calm and control their frustration. An officer suggested that they get out of the van and watch a truck parade passing nearby. They did -- only to hear some people watching the flag-festooned trucks yell "Death to the Arabs!"
Eventually, an officer told Baydoun that the FBI had cleared them all to proceed.
"What they did to us was not right," said Mustafa Hazime, one of the teenagers being trained to become a scout leader. "I feel unsafe in this world."
MackinawCity Police Chief Patrick Wyman said his officers were ready to release Baydoun and the scouts after chatting with them briefly but the FBI wanted the group to be held for a while. "The officers were apologetic and understanding, but they were following FBI orders," he said.
Chris Shepler of the ferry company said he's sorry it took so long to check out the scouts, but added that he's glad the police were cautious. He noted that his ferry runs close to two potential terrorist targets -- the MackinacBridge and the Soo Locks.
"Operating a ferry or any kind of transportation right now is a little hairy," Shepler said.
"You don't know what's in everyone's bags. You don't know what's on everyone's mind. There's a lot of tension and a lot of fear in all of America, and that does not exclude us up here."
Contact EMILIA ASKARI at 248-586-2606 or .
Memo:
AMERICA RESPONDS HOMEFRONT; PROFILING
Copyright (c) 2001 Detroit Free Press
Record Number: 0110130285