A Muslim man trying to find a hotel room in Ohio was handcuffed and detained at gunpoint by police who suspected him of pledging allegiance to ISIS last week.
It turns out, Ahmed al-Menhali was only in Cleveland for a medical check following a stroke, not for any terrorist activity.
The 41-year-old businessman from the United Arab Emirates ended up fainting – possibly from another stroke – after being accosted by Avon police on Wednesday.
Moments earlier, he had stepped into a hotel looking for a room while wearing an Arabic thawb, the traditional robe worn by Muslim men in the Middle East.
When the hotel clerk informed him that the hotel was booked, he got onto his phone and began speaking Arabic.
The clerk interpreted that as him pledging allegiance to the terrorist group ISIS and texted her sister, who then called police.
Body cam footage, posted below, shows an Avon police officer pulling up to the hotel, stepping out of the patrol car with his rifle and speaking to another officer before spotting the man, who was standing in front of the hotel, oblivious that he was a terrorist suspect.
“Get on the ground!” several cops began yelling while pointing their guns at him.
The man obliged and they ran up to him, one of them yelling, “put that phone away.”
“I’m tourist,” said the man. “This is no good.”
They handcuffed him and stood him up and walked him to a patrol car where they frisked him and removed his shoes. They then forced him into the back of a patrol car.
Police eventually released the man after realizing he was not plotting any terrorist activity.
The man then faints after the 13 minute mark in the video.
And Avon’s mayor, police chief and law director have formally apologized to the man, most likely in the hopes to prevent a lawsuit.
No word yet on whether the woman who called police will face charges for false reporting. You can hear her 911 call in the second video below.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates is warning its residents about wearing traditional garb when traveling to the United States, pointing out that it can get them killed by American police.
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