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Inbound Orange Line stopped at Wellington on report of suspicious men
By adamg on Tue, 02/09/2016 - 8:51am
Transit Police held an inbound train at Wellington after somebody at Oak Grove reported four well dressed "Middle Eastern" men with backpacks split up into two groups and got on separate cars there. Service was stopped for about 15 minutes.
Christian reports a police dog went through the train before it resumed service around 8:50 a.m.
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Comments
They probably split up
They probably split up because the train was too effing crowded for them to all fit in the same car
Depending on the details
I might have called in the suspicious-looking situation.
But, assuming those guys were doing nothing wrong, it must be humiliating to realize there's a police dog going through your subway car, because you, a well-dressed businessman, looked middle eastern.
Go ahead everyone, say it. Go
Go ahead everyone, say it. Go ahead. I know you want to. I'll start you off... Oh my word that's so racist! How dare those racist racists be so racistly racist!
well
It is pretty damn racist, but thanks for trying to defuse it with some sarcasm.
Those people should've picked a different time to head to work!
You do realize
Many Middle Easterners are white? They aren't all 'brown people'.
thanks
I'm sure the "Middle Eastern looking" folks were lily-white and the type that would call the police regarding this are aware of such nuance.
Not to mention
"Middle Eastern" isn't a race; thats the equivalent as saying South Americans or Asians are all one race. Last i checked people of Indian decent don't resemble people of Filipino decent.
Please stop calling people of
Please stop calling people of different ethnic backgrounds brown... educate yourself.
I was mocking those who refer
I was mocking those who refer to those of different ethnic backgrounds "brown". Fortunately I don't live in any of the ethnically non-diverse suburbs near Oak Grove, so I don't clutch my pearls when I see someone of a different ethnic background boarding the train in the morning.
Malden is quite ethnically diverse
and Oak Grove is in Malden.
yes
As a former Maldonian, and one who most often got the train at Oak Grove, people boarding there tended to be a bit less diverse than those boarding at Malden Center. Lots of Melrose people board at Oak Grove, I believe, and Melrose is significantly whiter than Malden. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if some Melron called the cops on some guys for the egregious sin of being "Middle Eastern-looking."
*edited to say "guys" instead of "teenagers," sorry
that's what I was referring to
% white:
Melrose: 91.1%
Wakefield: 94.5%
Saugus: 91.9%
Stoneham: 95%
Certainly less diverse than Boston, which is 52.9% white.
By suburbs I was referring to the "bedroom communities" outside of the confines of Malden.
The US has a statistically much
higher white population than the City of Boston. It would stand to reason Boston and other similar 'diverse' cities need to increase their white population so it'll match the national average.
Sarcasm aside, Malden, it's surrounding area, and metro Boston are very 'multicultural' and 'diverse'. Anyone who claims otherwise is ignorant or full of it. It also has a very large white population, because the US has a very large white, European and Middle Eastern descent white population. Many 'Hispanics' are also of full or part white European descent. If you're uncomfortable around 'white' people, you're living in the wrong country.
thanks
Thanks for the strawman. I don't recall saying I was uncomfortable around white people, but you certainly poked holes in that part of my argument. Kudos.
Former Maldenite
I've lived in two towns my entire life, Malden and Melrose. In those 63 almost 64 years I have NEVER felt threatened by ANY ethically diverse adult persons getting on the train heading to work. So a couple of "middle eastern" (ps married to one) gentlemen with a backpack would not scare me. Could be they just met coming down the stairs to the train and did not want to continue any conversation, maybe they don't work near each other and get off at different stops..who knows. I would not worry about them.
Now those rowdy, gutter trash talking teenagers is another story, and they can be from ANY ethnic background I don't care but they frankly scare me and is why i never wear earbuds, or anything covering my ears or don't pay attention to where the exit is in relationship to where I am sitting or standing and always carry something I can STICK them with (keys work). REASON.. Several years ago I watched in horror as a older than me at the time lady was systematically kicked, spat on and verbal abused by several young laughing teenagers (guess they were between 14-17) who got on at the MALDEN station and off at Wellington. The whole incident took all of about 45 seconds to a minute just as we pulled into Wellington. HELLO 911? Ran like the dickens away from the Transit police hot on their trail...a cheer went up in the car as the woman was escorted by other transit police to seek medical attention. Don't know if those little shits ever got caught but I sure hope so.
BTW last I heard Malden had 58 different languages spoken in the school system. I cannot even guess what all of them are.
I'm Latino but have been
I'm Latino but have been called "cracker" because I have blue eyes and fair complexion and categorized with "white people" (not all "white people" have white skin, did you know that?). So guess what? Everyone, including myself who is blogging about this shit is racist! IF WE WERE NOT RACIST, WE WOULDN'T EVEN BE TALKING ABOUT IT!!
Middle-eastern people are
Middle-eastern people are Caucasian.
What brown people are you
What brown people are you referring to?
Before the attacks being, let
Before the attacks being, let's not forget that it was a civilian who started this. The police responded to a call for suspicious activity.
As a cop, I have been in situations where I've wanted to say: "listen racist, that's racistly racist and I'm not going to be racist with you", but I can't. We can't pick and choose what calls people will send us to.
- a Boston cop
BPD picks which calls to repond to all the time
So if someone called in that 4 white men with backpacks boarded different train cars (which happens every day on all lines) you would stop the subway and do a search? I got hit by a (white) drunk driver who reversed out of a bar in Brighton. Called Boston Police that I had been hit by a seemingly drunk driver who sped off. Waited an hour with a witness and no cops ever bothered to respond.
"All the time" says the guy
"All the time" says the guy who probably only had to call 911 once his whole life.
Nope, you're wrong. have had
Nope, you're wrong. have had to call several times. Once because a man was beating a woman on our street. Got a call a month later from the police benevolent society asking for a donation, and reminding me I had made a 911 call to them recently. Thanks.
I'm going to say something else
DON'T FORGET TO BE VERY AFRAID AT ALL TIMES! The military industrial complex and SWAT team consortiums are counting on you to justify their existence without having to actually demonstrate their value in logical ways!
Me? I'm going to report EVERY toddler - they killed a lot of people with guns last year. More than self-described terrorists!
Oh, and white guys who "look" like domestic terrorists, too - too many federal historic monuments around to risk that! Any cammo, any carhartt balaclavas - SAY SOMETHING!
K.
K.
What's it like?
You know, being so persecuted as you are?
Just another day of "normal" service
on the T.
Orange Line
"See Something. Say Something.''
Don't forget.
Medford is building an inclusive community.
Yawn
Snore.
I'm curious what is actually
I'm curious what is actually considered suspicious activity?
I'm always suspicious of
I'm always suspicious of grown men carrying backpacks. You're not in college anymore!
You'd rather we wear them instead of carrying them?
Heck no!
Those of you that carry your backpacks are fine by me. Those that obliviously wear their backpacks are my least favorite part of the T experience. The occasional Orange Line delay does not rile me up in the least.
You do realize that
many professionals, (i.e. non college people), use backpacks as they go to their office jobs each day. And that category includes grown men.
Yup
I'm a tiny female, with neck and back issues (they're minor, but they get quite uncomfortable when I have to carry heavy stuff.)
I've had jobs where I've had to haul heavy instructional manuals or old-school (5 lbs +) laptops back and forth, where I tried *very hard* to carry them in some Fashionable and Grown Up Looking tote. At the most recent one, after several weeks of having neck and back pain and the associated migraines from hauling a heavy shoulder bag on the train, I decided I was too old to suffer for fashion and broke out my old-school Jansport backpack that I bought for college but hardly used. MUCH more comfortable and I do not care if people are judging.
TBH
We all have some sort of racist prejudgment on people we don't know but assume their race. It's only acting on said prejudgments that makes you a jerk..
Suspicious men on orange line dressed in blue
I have been riding the orange line for years and have never seen Transit cops on the trains so would it be considered suspicious if they were spotted riding the trains?
Backpacks
Good for keeping your hands free, in case you slip on the ice.