Mohamed Noor, the Muslim cop in Minneapolis who shot an unarmed woman, Justine Damond, had been fast-tracked onto the force so that the Minneapolis police could showcase their “diversity.” It looks as if the Portland, Maine Police Department was trying to do the same thing with Zahra Munye Abu. After the shooting of Justine Damond, there should have been a searching reevaluation of the wisdom of hiring police officers based on their religion and ethnicity rather than their merit. But of course there was not. And so Muslim police officers keep being hired because they’re Muslim, not because they’re competent police officers, and here we are again.
“Portland police officer who was arrested in Massachusetts resigns,” by Matt Byrne, Press Herald, June 11, 2018:
The Portland Police Department’s first Somali police officer resigned Sunday before the department could complete an internal affairs investigation prompted by her arrest at a Massachusetts nightclub in January.
Zahra M. Abu, 25, of Portland had been on paid administrative leave since she was charged by Worcester police with assault and battery, resisting arrest, trespassing, disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace on Jan. 13.
The charges stem from alleged conduct inside the Palladium, a music venue where Abu was attending a concert by Ja Rule and Ashanti.
Abu pleaded not guilty to the charges. She has remained free on personal recognizance and was ordered to stay away from the Palladium.
Meanwhile, Portland police said they were conducting an internal review of the incident. In announcing the resignation, city officials declined to offer any details of what the internal review found.
“Zahra Abu voluntarily resigned from the Portland Police Department on June 10 prior to the completion of the police department’s Internal Affairs investigation,” wrote Jessica Grondin, spokeswoman for the city. “As this is a confidential personnel matter, no additional information can or will be released.”…
In a report filed in court, Worcester police said the 5-foot-2, 130-pound officer was acting aggressively toward concert hall staff and pushed her way through the crowd, “physically assaulting several customers.” Told by security and police that her behavior was unacceptable and she was “no longer welcome on the property,” Abu was asked to leave “two to three dozen times,” according to the report.
Worcester police Officer Christopher Grilli wrote that after being told she was under arrest, Abu “tensed her body and tried to pull away from us in an effort to evade arrest. She squirmed around and tried to free herself from the handcuffs.”
The report alleges that Abu swore at police, questioned their training and time in service and “refused to cease her profanity-laced comments toward staff.”
Outside, as officers waited for a patrol wagon to take Abu to police headquarters, she moved toward another patron and said, “They’re racial profiling, I see you there, girl,” according to court documents.
Abu gained widespread media and community attention two years ago when she became the first member of Maine’s Somali community to be sworn in as a police officer….