Racial Profiling

From left, Ira Tankovich, William Tankovich and Frank Tankovich.

EXCERPT: A unanimous Idaho Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of Frank Tankovich for malicious harassment and conspiracy after a 2009 incident in which he and his two brothers, in a truck festooned with a swastika, harassed a man of Puerto Rican descent outside his Coeur d’Alene home.

“We find ample evidence to support the jury’s finding that Tankovich was motivated by racial animus,” Appeals Court Judge Karen Lansing wrote in the decision …

Frank Tankovich and his brother William were sentenced to probation and community service for the incident, while his brother Ira was convicted of conspiracy to disturb the peace and possession of a gun by a felon, and was sentenced to up to nine years in prison. … the three brothers drove past the home of Kenneth Requena, who was standing in his garage with his wife, Kimberly. The brothers, whose truck had a swastika drawn in dirt on one side and “Born 2 Kill” on the other, squealed to a stop and backed up to park in front of the Requenas’ driveway, where Frank Tankovich, the driver, began yelling at Requena and all three brothers got out of the truck and approached him … Requena again asked his wife to retrieve his gun and call 911. When police responded, the brothers loudly and repeatedly yelled profanity, racial slurs and threats against Requena, calling him a “beaner” and a “terrorist,” and demanding that he be arrested for displaying a firearm.

Read the full story by Betsy Russell in the Spokeman Review.

“Rock legend Bob Dylan was treated like a complete unknown by police in a New Jersey shore community when a resident called to report someone wandering around the neighborhood,” writes Stew Milne of The Associated Press. “Dylan was in Long Branch, about a two-hour drive south of New York City, on July 23 as part of a tour with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp that was to play at a baseball stadium in nearby Lakewood. A 24-year-old police officer apparently was unaware of who Dylan is and asked him for identification, Long Branch business administrator Howard Woolley said Friday.”

According to a nj.com story called: Bob Dylan stopped by Long Branch police, asked for ID, the officers asked Dylan for identification. The singer of such classics as “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Blowin’ in the Wind” said that he didn’t have any ID with him, that he was just walking around looking at houses to pass some time before that night’s show.

The incident began at 5 p.m. when a resident said a man was wandering around a low-income, predominantly minority neighborhood several blocks from the oceanfront looking at houses. The officers asked Dylan, 68, to accompany them back to the Ocean Place Resort and Spa, where the performers were staying. Once there, tour staff vouched for Dylan.

What should we make of this?

One perspective came from the right.

missin said:

Yes indeed, I’m waiting for Obama’s comment that cops are stupid here too, Oh, that’s right, Dylan is white. Obama will have nothing to say. Obama should keep his remarks to himself just like we do.

It does sound strange why he was there. With all the nice neighborhoods in NJ why check out low income housing, something strange here. Maybe things are bad economically for him too.

On the left, doctorphil1, wrote:

Thank the Lord for minority vigilant people!!!

Here was an unknown white senior citizen obviously casing the area, looking to break in to a poor, minority person’s home and steal her possessions. The alert citizen sensing that this was a potential problem alerted Long Branch Police, who responded and did their job. They questioned as it turned out a has been singer of yesteryear and verified who he was.

Maybe if more minority people reported white folks trespassing in their neighborhoods, drug traffic will drop like a rock and their neighborhoods will be as safe as the neighborhoods these white folks live in.

*****

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