Hyper vigilance

In the spring of 2003 I was enrolled in a Brownfields course and an Environmental Design course. These courses required a little bit of field research by way of visiting locations and taking photographs.  For Brownfields I focused on the Tinicum Marsh and the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge - I learned quite a bit about Superfund sites and the impact of industrial land uses.  For Environmental Design, I embrace Sucher's City Comforts because it was so sensible and intuitive.

As the semester was winding down I was in the "field" quite a bit, taking photos and making observations.  I was foolishly moving about as if I were a legitimate citizen.  Oh wait, I do hold a blue passport, but liberty and justice is unevenly distributed and has been since the founding of this country.

One afternoon, as I was preparing my PowerPoint for class, there was a knock at the front door.  They identified themselves as the police and when I questioned them about their car, they clarified and said they were the FBI and wanted to ask me a few questions.  I eagerly obliged, because as Town Watch president I am always willing to assist law enforcement.  There was one guy that was clearly the muscle and one guy that looked like an intern - the muscle was the FBI agent and the younger fella was with Homeland Security.

Imagine my surprise when they asked about MY whereabouts earlier that day.  I naively explained that the Fish & Wildlife Service was well aware of what I was doing and that I could get someone on the phone to clear it all up.  They seemed shocked that there was a Wildlife Refuge in the area.  They wanted to know about the pictures I had been taking at the oil refinery. 

That's when I realized I had been profiled.

I was shocked and my attitude shifted from eager to defensive yet cooperative.  I explained to them that their geography was incorrect - the oil refinery was in South Philadelphia and I was in Tinicum and that the only thing remotely similar was a tank storage plant in Folcroft and the Sunoco pipelines that ran through the refuge and had caused previous damage.  I voluntarily showed them my photos and they casually looked around and asked some probing questions in a conversational form.  I also took the opportunity to practice my presentation. 

Then they asked for the name of my Professor, my identification, and my social security number. 

I said, aren't you the FBI, you should already have all of that information.  I then asked them what was my name when they ran my license plate. 

After we sorted that out, they commented that I was knowledgeable about the environment and asked if I ever considered working for the EPA...I said not with this outfit.  That's when I asked if they had come by because I am Muslim...they assured me that had absolutely nothing to do with it.  I found that odd, considering we had just invaded Iraq.

When I shared this information with my professors they were livid.  They were more concerned than I because apparently they knew a lot more about the Patriot Act than I did.  They were afraid that I would be picked up so I was instructed to provide my family with their contact information so that they could act immediately if that happened. 

For awhile things were quiet and the FBI incident was just a funny story.  Then the London Bombings of 2005 happened and I suppose Homeland Security decided to round up the usual suspects. 

I came home for a lunch break and saw two guys with khaki pants and white shirts on the porch.  I assumed they were Mormons in summer attire.  I would occasionally let them (and Jehovah's Witnesses) in to chat.  I walked up on the porch and said "hey guys".  They responded that they were looking for my husband and I asked for identification and then told them that they were actually looking for me.  The feigned surprise.  I invited them in (it was extremely hot outside) and informed them that I would be eating my lunch and drinking fresh squeeze lemonade and would not be offering them anything as they were not my guests. 

That's when they started their ridiculous line of questioning.

What mosque do you attend?  Who are you closest associates?  What charities do you support?  Do you have any plans to overthrow the US government? 

I said, if this is your counter-terrorist strategy then we're in a heap of trouble.  And responded that I love the US government because the NSF was paying for my masters degree. 

Have you always been a Muslim? 

I told my story of how I converted from Christianity (Episcopalian) and the older agent was quite interested in having a theological dialogue. 

I told them I needed to get back to work and their final question was:  does your husband still work for SEPTA?  I said oh, so you've been investigating us.  That's nice to know.

Haven't seen them since, but I'm sure they're watching.