Man dressed as female Muslim Target employee is St. Paul cop, police say

[Daqane]

 

By Mara H. Gottfried | mgottfried@pioneerpress.com | A man seen in a photograph dressed as a female Muslim Target employee is a St. Paul police officer who worked off-duty at a St. Paul store, police and Target Corp. said Monday, Feb. 4.

 

Mukhtar Ibrahim directed a Tweet to the official St. Paul police Twitter account at 7:55 p.m. Sunday: “Can u pls verify if this man mocking Somali women employees at Target is one of your officers?” Ibrahim, who used to live in St. Paul, is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist.

 

Ibrahim received a reply from the St. Paul police Twitter account at 8:35 a.m. Monday: “SPPD wants to thx u for bring this to our att. We take this seriously&are investigating.”

 

Police Chief Thomas Smith said in a statement Monday, “After an image was brought to my attention this morning, I ordered an immediate investigation to determine all of the facts surrounding it. The St. Paul police department has worked hard to establish a strong and respectful relationship with our Muslim communities, and I will not allow these types of images to erode that relationship. Diversity is one of the greatest strengths of the city of St. Paul, and we expect each one of our officers to respect and take pride in serving each of our diverse communities.”

 

People responded to the photo on Twitter, some using the hashtag #CultureNOTCostume. Among the comments: “It is never funny, nor appropriate to mock someone’s cultural identity.” “Protect and serve does not translate into mock and degrade.” “This behavior is counter-intuitive to positive community policing efforts. We need accountability.”

 

Lori Saroya, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Minnesota chapter, said her organization has good relationships with the St. Paul and Minneapolis police departments, but if the photo does show a St. Paul police officer, she thinks that individual needs more diversity training to “help eliminate anti-Muslim stereotypes and prejudice.”

 

“We don’t see too many of these kinds of cases and it’s not the biggest one we’ve seen,” Saroya said. “It seems like a silly, unprofessional incident that happened. We’re confident the St. Paul police department will handle it appropriately. I don’t think he did it to be offensive or mean-spirited. It just seems to be ignorance.”

 

The photo was brought to light on Twitter by a man named Taddese who declined to give his last name. He posted on the microblogging service Sunday, “Target employees in St Paul, MN, including Police Officer mock Somali women and hijabis,” along with screengrabs of a photo and comments on Instagram, a photo-sharing and social-networking service.

 

The photo is of a man wearing a red head and body covering that some Muslim women wear, with a Target nametag on the chest. It was posted 10 weeks ago by the Instagram user michaelhart1997. The account, which says it is owned by Michael Hart of Minneapolis, was private as of Monday.

 

Another screen grab Taddese posted included a caption from michaelhart1997, “Officer Rob Buth sporting his #halloween costume for #throwbackthursday”

 

A St. Paul officer named Robert Buth is assigned to the K-9 unit, but police spokesman Howie Padilla said he could not say whether he is the man in the photo. Buth, who could not be reached for comment Monday, was suspended for a day in 2003 for excessive force and received an oral reprimand in 2000 for a preventable accident. He received a medal of merit in 2005, and has 16 other thank-you letters or commendations noted in his personnel file.

 

Ibrahim asked Taddese over Twitter, “How did u find this?,” to which Taddese replied, “I was tipped off.” Taddese also wrote on Twitter that the Target in question is the one at 1300 W. University Ave. in St. Paul.

 

“That Target is located in area with a large population of Muslims, and Somalis in particular. Many Somali and Oromo women work there,” he posted. He responded to a Pioneer Press request for comment by suggesting Ibrahim would be a better person to speak with.

 

Ibrahim said he searched the Internet for the Instagram account holder and found someone on Twitter with the same screen name @MichaelHart1997. That person had posted the same picture of the man in the red hijab on Twitter on Nov. 5 with a similar caption, Ibrahim said he found.

 

Ibrahim said he referenced @MichaelHart1997 on Twitter and the account holder then deleted the photo in question and set the account to private. The account holder didn’t respond to a Pioneer Press request for comment Monday.

 

Ibrahim said a friend, who did not want to be named, became aware of the photo after someone who follows michaelhart1997 on Instagram saw the photo and told him about it. Ibrahim’s friend told him that Michael Hart works at Target and that the photo was taken in the breakroom.

 

Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in an email that the person pictured “is not, and has never been, a Target team member and we have confirmed the photo was not taken at a Target facility. As a company who stands firmly for inclusivity and diversity, we were appalled by this photo and do not tolerate or condone discrimination or harassment of any sort.” She said Target is “conducting a full investigation.”

 

Snyder said the background in the image is not a Target facility. In the photo, a calendar showing an officer and police dog is visible on the wall behind the man, and is turned to the October 2012 page.

 

Asked whether Hart is a Target employee, Snyder said, “Out of respect for our team, we typically don’t provide details on Target team members and their employment.”

 

Snyder said Target does not directly hire off-duty officers who work security at their stores, but confirmed the man pictured occasionally worked as an off-duty officer at the University Avenue store. She said she had to defer to St. Paul police when asked whether the man is Buth.

 

Padilla said he couldn’t say how police became aware of the photo and whether it was through Twitter. “We now know about it and we’re taking action,” he said.

 

Mayor Chris Coleman said via Twitter on Monday morning, “To those who tweeted me yesterday: I take this very seriously and Chief Smith is currently investigating.”

 

Coleman’s spokesman, Joe Campbell, said, “The mayor will personally be monitoring this very closely and at the completion of a thorough investigation, we’ll take next steps after determining exactly what happened.”

 

Omar Jamal, first secretary of the Somali Mission to the United Nations, wrote in an email Monday, “This is a clear indication that police should have additional sensitivity training about the community, culture and religion.”

 

Ilhan Omar, of Minneapolis, said she was appalled when she saw the photo on Twitter. The 30-year-old Minneapolis woman, who wears a hijab – a head scarf some Muslim woman don – said, “It’s degrading – this is what we consider part of our religion, part of our faith, and part of our tradition.”She described what the man in the photo is wearing as a jilbab, which some Muslim woman wear to cover their body almost to the knees and the head.

 

“For us it’s not a costume, it’s our daily life,” she said.

 

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Mara H. Gottfried can be reached at 651-228-5262. Follow her at twitter.com/MaraGottfried or twitter.com/ppUsualSuspects.

[Alpha Blondy]

LOL!

 

she'd never be allowed in my harem.

[NGONGE]

Heh. It's obvious that this man studied the habits of Somali women in great detail. Check out the hands free phone there! :D

[Daqane]

looooool who needs blue tooth

[Nin-Yaaban]

Fire him.

[Jacpher]

I saw this after right Mukhtaar tweeted couple of days ago but I thought Islaan cadaan ah I never paid much attention.

 

Keep up the good work my friend Mukhtaar. He exposed the Kenyan's on Twitter too.

[oba hiloowlow]

NGONGE;915939 wrote:

Heh. It's obvious that this man studied the habits of Somali women in great detail. Check out the hands free phone there!

:D

LOOOOOOOOL walahi i was about to say that haha

[Haatu]

lol raggeedi. c'mon people it's just a little bit of humour