‘IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING’ FIASCO

An Emirate business man in Cleveland for medical treatments is attacked by a police SWAT team after a hotel clerk panicked when she saw the man wearing traditional white Arab robes and texted her sister who called the cops to report an ISIS terrorist

BarkGrowlBite | July 5, 2016

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) coined and promoted the phrase “If you see something, say something” in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing. The phrase keeps getting repeated, especially when there is an Islamic terrorist attack in this country and an Islamic terrorist attack or bombing abroad.

A hotel clerk at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Avon, a suburb of Cleveland, panicked last Wednesday when she saw a man dresses in traditional white Arab robes and texted her sister that an Islamic terrorist swearing allegiance to ISIS was at her hotel. The sister and her father then called the cops. That call resulted in a fiasco that may cost the hotel and the city of Avon a fortune.

The call resulted in a response by an Avon police SWAT team armed with assault rifles, which upon spotting the Arab man, attacked him by throwing him to the ground before handcuffing him. All the time he tried to tell the cops who he was and why he was there. After ten minutes they finally stood him up and uncuffed him. Having nothing to hold him on, they said he was free to go. At that point he collapsed and had to be transported to a hospital.

It all began when Ahmed al-Menhali, a 41-year-old businessman and father of three from the United Arab Emirates, tried to obtain a room at the Fairfield Inn and Suites. When no rooms were available he asked the clerk to help him find a room at another hotel. The rest is history.

Al-Menhali was in Cleveland for medical treatment at the world famous Cleveland Clinic. He had suffered health complications following a stroke. He may have suffered another stroke when he collapsed after the police attack.

As a result of this fiasco, the Emirates’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a Travel Alert warning its citizens to avoid wearing the national dress during trips to the U.S. It also summoned American embassy officials over the “ill treatment” al-Menhali received at the hands of the Avon cops.

Despite a profuse face-to-face apology on Saturday by the Avon mayor and the chief of police, al-Menhali is expected to file a hefty lawsuit against the city, the police and Marriott International, which owns the Fairfield Inn and Suites. How can they defend the suit? They can’t! This “If you see something, say something” fiasco is going to cost them a fortune.

Ahmed al-Menhali is obviously a wealthy Arab, and thanks to DHS, he’ll soon be a great deal wealthier. If you see something, say something indeed.