New York - An American Sheriff from Missouri has allegedly asked residents to racially profile “foreign speaking” people and Muslims to report on what they purchase at stores.
New York – An American Sheriff from Missouri has allegedly asked residents to racially profile “foreign speaking” people and Muslims to report on what they purchase at stores.
In a xenophobic move that promotes more hatred and intolerance, Laclede County, Missouri Sheriff Wayne Merritt is urging civilians to observe the public moves of those that look and sound like Muslims.
According to Sheriff Merritt, if residents consider that a person is a Muslim or foreigner, they should follow them to check their purchases and if found “suspicious”, they should be reported to the authorities.
According to KY3 local news, Missouri residents have already begun to profile Muslims. Last week, residents in Lebanon, Missouri, called the police on two Muslim men who bought a large amount of cellphones at a local Wal-Mart.
“Somebody went in and bought 60 cellphones from Walmart that’s not normal for this area,” Sheriff Merritt said.
The men were interrogated and later released for lack of a legal reason to detain them, according to the Lebanon Police Department report.
Sheriff Merritt believes if an activity looks “suspicious”, it needs to be stopped because “we’ve got to be vigilant,” while insisting that this is not about Muslims.
“I’m not going to say just because they’re different religion or because they’re Muslim, but these people were they were foreign speaking, then you need to take notice and you need to let us know about it because it doesn’t hurt to check on it. You’re not being racist or anything like that you’re just protecting yourself,” Sheriff Merritt said to KY3 news.
Nonetheless, the only people who have been reported to the authorities for allegedly “suspicious” purchases have been Muslims.
According to ABC17 news, in one weekend, five Missouri cities received reports of strange phone purchases at Wal-Mart stores. All reports have been reported to the FBI, yet all suspects were released. Another man was interrogated by the police in Ava, Missouri when residents reported that he had left his cell phone in a Wal-Mart bathroom, which they considered “suspicious”.
“While speaking with Walmart employees, the subject who left the phone returned to the store to get it,” the Ava Police Department posted on Facebook.
“Officers spoke with the male subject, who was of Middle Eastern descent, and asked for identification, which was provided,” the police added. The man was also let go.
Sherriff Merritt has justified the reports by saying that the suspects had an “accent” and were involved in activities that allegedly made others nervous and in fear of a possible terrorist act.
