40 civil rights groups demand accountability in Texas profiling case

Daljeet Singh was profiled and falsely arrested while traveling aboard a Greyhound bus.



A coalition of 40 civil rights organizations are demanding accountability after two brown-skinned men were profiled, falsely arrested and mistreated by authorities in Texas while traveling aboard a Greyhound bus.

In February, the two men -- Mr. Daljeet Singh and Mr. Mohammed Chotri, asylum applicants from India and Pakistan respectively -- were falsely accused of terrorism, harshly interrogated and arrested at gunpoint by authorities in Potter County, Texas. More than one month after the Sikh Coalition filed a complaint demanding an investigation into the profiling of the Sikh passenger, authorities have failed to address the case.

Daljeet Singh, who wears a turban and beard in observance of his Sikh faith, was a passenger on a Greyhound bus traveling through Amarillo on February 21, 2016 when he was falsely accused by a fellow passenger of making a terroristic threat.

"I was arrested at gunpoint and wrongfully detained for nearly 30 hours without question, but nobody seems to care that this was the wrong thing to do," said Mr. Singh. "My hope is that something like this never happens to another innocent person."

Stop the racial profiling of Chinese American scientists

#SCIENTISTSNOTSPIES



On Sunday, 60 Minutes aired a story on physics professor Xiaoxing Xi and hydrologist Sherry Chen -- two of several recent cases involving Chinese American scientists who have been wrongfully prosecuted by the U.S. government with espionage-related crimes -- falsely accused of spying for China.

In each of these cases, American citizens -- Xi and Chen, as well as Guiqing Cao and Shuyu Li -- were widely labeled as spies for China before the government dropped all their charges with no explanation, apology or compensation. Supporters believe they were profiled and targeted because they are Asian American.

#ScientistsNotSpies
This week, advocates across the nation are demanding accountability and transparency from the federal government, urging for a stop to these reckless prosecutions and an investigation into the possible use of racial profiling in the case of Asian American scientists who have been accused of espionage.

The government still hasn't publicly acknowledged any wrongdoing for its recent wrongful prosecutions. The #ScientistsNotSpies campaign is asking for your support sending a message to the Attorney General and Inspector General of the United States to stop possible racial profiling in the Department of Justice.

Here how you can take action:

'Allegiance' has been saving a seat for Donald Trump

George Takei calls on Trump to denounce racial/religious profiling and invites him to his Broadway musical.



Donald Trump has a standing open invitation to attend a performance of the Broadway musical Allegiance, issued by star George Takei himself. They've even been saving a seat for him at every performance.

Last week, Takei issued a video response to Trump's recent comments regarding both the Muslim community and Japanese American internment camps. The Republican presidential candidate called for a ban on all Muslims entering the U.S. and could not definitively say whether or not he would have supported the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. His supporters seem to think it was a good idea.

Is the government racially profiling Asian Americans?

Members of Congress call on Attorney General to investigate Sherry Chen espionage case.



Members of Congress, joined by APA community leaders, are calling the U.S. Attorney General to investigate and determine whether race and national origin were factors in unfounded espionage-related charges brought against Sherry Chen, a Chinese American hydrologist with the National Weather Service.

Members of Congress Ask for Review of Dropped Espionage Case

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch is being asked investigate not only if race was a factor in Mrs. Chen's arrest, but also to determine whether race, national origin, religion or gender are being used by federal agencies in targeting federal employees for arrest, surveillance or other actions.

In October 2014, Chen was publicly arrested at her workplace and charged with four felony charges, largely built on the suspicion that she had been working on behalf of the Chinese government to threaten U.S. infrastructure. But less than one week before trial, the government dismissed all charges against Mrs. Chen.

A letter to Attorney General Lynch, signed by twenty-two members of Congress, expresses concern that Chen's case is indicative of a broader campaign of racial profiling against Asian Americans. It certainly isn't the first time this has happened. Sherry Chen is just the latest example.

Fox News guest apologizes for comments about internment

"I want to issue a sincere apology for my remarks... which I believe were unfortunately misinterpreted."



Hear that? It's squeaky, clunky sound of a backpedal. Over the weekend, Fox News guest Jonathan Hoenig apologized for comments he made citing the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II as an example of measures that led to the United States winning the war -- an argument he made on Cashin' In in support of the profiling of Muslim Americans today as a measure to combat terrorism.

Fox News Guest Apologizes for Internment Camp Comments

Hoenig's remarks on the matter are full of all kinds of bullshit, and sparked a fairly fiery response from a number of Asian American and Japanese American politicians and community organizations -- representing the community that, you know, actually had to endure the injustice of internment. Congressman Mike Honda called Hoenig's comments nothing less than "inexcuseabe" and "idiotic and insensitive."

On Saturday, Cashin' In took a moment for Hoenig to offer an on-air apology for his comments:

Fox News panelist argues internment camps were justified

Thus, "profiling would be at least a good start" in the war on terror.



Let's get this out of the way: pretty much everything that airs on Fox News is bullshit. But there's Fox News, and then there's Fox News realllly going for it. Like this recent discussion about the war on terror that included, among other arguments, justification for the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Fox's Cashin' In: 'The Enemy Is Islamic,' It's Time to Start Profiling Muslims

On Saturday's broadcast of Fox's Cashin' In, a four-person panel weighed in on whether we should start profiling Muslims in America. How this shit passes for legit journalism is incomprehensible, and predictably, all the discussants were in agreement on how to find the terrorists among us: "Profile, profile, profile."

Panelist Jonathan Hoenig took it even further, making the claim that rounding up Japanese Americans and putting them in internment camps actually worked out quite well for the United States:

Hindu guy makes the mistake of traveling on Ramadan

This week in Flying While Brown.



I've lost track of how many frustrating, mind-melting accounts I've read of innocent brown folks getting profiled, hassled and mistreated by airport security while traveling, just trying to get to wherever the hell they're going. Here's one more infuriating account from Aditya Mukerjee: JetBlue Refuses To Let Hindu Man Board Flight During Ramadan, Concerned About His "Disposition."

Mukerjee, who is Hindu, was traveling from New York City to Los Angeles to vacation with his family. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of flying during the Muslim holiday Ramadan -- I repeat, he is Hindu, not Muslim, and not that it friggin' matters -- which he believes ultimately got him detained for hours and questioned by the TSA, NYPD, FBI and Homeland Security. And yes, he missed his flight.

After going through the gauntlet of inane interrogation by all those agencies, it was ultimately the airline, JetBlue, that booted Mukerjee off the flight. He detailed the day's entire shitty experience in an infuriating blog post entitled Don't Fly During Ramadan.

Read These Blogs: Stop-and-Frisk Kal Penn Edition

The other day, Kal Penn tweeted a link to an op/ed piece by Mayor Mike Bloomberg in support of New York City's Stop-and-Frisk program, setting off a flurry of back-and-forth Twitter messages in which the Harold and Kumar actor (and former White House aide) seemed to step out in support of the controversial policy. "Say it ain't so, Kalpen!" many of us exclaimed with much disappointment and shaking of fists at screens.

Penn's comments and the resounding response set off some pretty interesting reactions and conversations: