ACLU coordinator wrongly held, jury rulesRacial profiling at Logan allegedBy David Abel
Globe Staff / December 10, 2007
A federal jury ruled last week that State Police
troopers at Logan International Airport unlawfully
detained the coordinator of the American Civil
Liberties Union's Campaign Against Racial Profiling
while he was passing through the airport in the
fall of 2003, attorneys on both sides said yesterday.
King Downing sued the Massachusetts Port Authority,
which runs the airport, and State Police, alleging
the troopers violated his constitutional rights by
unreasonably stopping, questioning, and asking him
for identification after he left the gate area. He
had arrived in Boston to attend a meeting on racial
profiling.
Downing, a Harvard-educated attorney who is black
and has a beard, declined to provide his identification
and was told to leave the airport. Shortly afterward,
he was surrounded by several state troopers, who
said they were arresting him for failing to show
identification.
About 40 minutes later, the troopers released Downing
after he showed them his driver's license and his
airline ticket, which they had requested. They never
filed charges.
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