JUNE 21, 2020 – Current anti-police sentiment reminds me of my own run-in with the cops eight years ago.
My clients were the board members of a local mosque. They were battling a faction that had been previously ousted. My people—the “good guys”—were smart, reliable, educated, and struggling hard to make something of themselves here in the land of freedom and opportunity. After a close examination of the record, I readily saw that in removing the “bad guys,” my people had carefully followed applicable law and the organization’s duly adopted bylaws. In retaliation, the “bad guys” had shown up at the mosque late one night and broken in to take over the organization and . . . the all-important checkbook.
According to my people, the “bad guys” were former street fighters back in Mogadishu; now imposters wearing the garb of holy men and carrying Korans, they would seize control of a mosque and its congregation. Their endgame was to siphon funds from the unsuspecting members. Call it organized crime. They had ties to similar “bad guys” in Islamic communities elsewhere in America.
My people learned of the break-in and rushed to stop the takeover. The “bad guys” barred the doorway. Someone called the cops. After separating the two factions, the police asked, “Who’s in charge?” By this time, the “bad guys” had occupied the building. They produced a copy of a document pre-dating their ouster and bearing their leader’s name and title as (then) president. The document was evidence of nothing more than that he had been president at that time. The cops would hear nothing of what had occurred since—namely, that the “bad guys” had been voted out and the “good guys” voted in, fair and square.
Capitalizing on their momentum, the “bad guys” accused my people of embezzlement!
That’s what led to my own run-in with the police. A detective called me as part of his investigation against the “good guys.” Soon thereafter I met with the detective to show him all pertinent organizational documents—the bylaws, meeting notices, meeting minutes, resolutions, financial records, and bank statements—to establish definitively that the “good guys” were in legal control and operating legitimately.
This approach assumed that (a) the detective had a brain; and (b) his boss wasn’t a “bad cop.”
As it turned out, the detective couldn’t connect dots that weren’t an inch apart with a solid line already drawn between them. His boss was bad news. Ten minutes into my pointless meeting with the “dumb cop,” the “bad cop” barged into the small room at police headquarters and asked to speak alone with the detective. A minute later I was summoned back in. Stepping close enough to reveal the angry hairs inside his nostrils, the “bad cop” pushed his finger into my chest and said, “This meeting is over. And if you don’t return all your legal fees to the proper people at the mosque, I’m going to charge you as an accomplice.”
In that moment I found myself face-to-face with evil.
(Remember to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.)
© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
