New York Times columnist Charles Blow is “fuming.”  In a series of Twitter messages, Blow claims that his son, a third-year student at Yale University, was stopped by campus police because he fit the description of a burglary suspect.  Blow included the hashtags #ICantBreathe, #RacialBattleFatigue, and #BlackLivesMatter.

In the Saturday night tweets, Blow said police “accosted” his son “at gunpoint” when he was leaving the library but that he was let go when “they realized he was a college student, not a criminal.”  In one tweet, Blow rushed to judgment, writing that he has “no patience for ppl trying to convince me that the fear these young blk men feel isn’t real.” 

The alleged encounter came after police responded to emergency calls from undergraduate students reporting that an intruder had gained access to their rooms on the pretense of looking for someone.  They described the suspect as “a tall, African-American, college-age student wearing a black jacket and a red and white hat.”  

In an e-mail, a Yale spokesperson mentioned that a person matching the description had been detained “briefly” and released.  The e-mail did not name the columnist’s son, Tahj Blow, as the person detained at the library, nor whether police held him at gunpoint.  A suspect was later arrested at an adjacent college residence hall, according to the New Haven Register, and will be charged with felony burglaries.

What is supposed to happen in this circumstance?  How are the police going to apprehend the criminal if the description involves a black man?  Are they supposed to ignore the call?

Incidentally, white college students get stopped and questioned, too.  When my son attended the local university, he and two of his friends drove to a concert in Northern Virginia.  When a young woman attending the show reported that a white guy had stolen her purse and the description matched one of my son’s friends, all three were stopped and questioned.  They were respectful, cooperative, polite, and soon let go.

But Blow can’t help playing the race card.  Without having any facts, he accuses Yale police of targeting his son.  Blow’s “fuming” naturally means he will write his umpteenth column about racist cops who profile black males.

In a 2009 post on racial profiling, Blow recounted his own tale of being stopped by police when he was a college student while driving with his friend in a white Louisiana neighborhood.  Blow says he was pulled over and that when he went to retrieve his registration from the glove compartment, a switchblade comb fell out, “like the one Fonz had on 併Happy Days.’”  At that point, Blow alleges, the cop drew his gun and told the two he could execute them if he wanted to.  Did it happen?  We’ll never know.

But after covering the story of black UVA law student Johnathan Perkins a few years ago, color me skeptical.  Perkins penned a letter to the law weekly recounting in detail how police stopped him while walking home to his apartment one night.  “You fit the description of someone we’re looking for,” they told him.  The law student went on to claim they pushed him against their police car and forcibly put his hands on the rear of the vehicle.  Perkins later admitted he made the whole thing up to draw attention to the issue of police brutality.    

Perkins should have been charged with filing a false police report and expelled for violating UVA’s sacrosanct honor code; instead, he received no consequences and went on to earn a law degree from UVA.  With thousands of social justice groups and Blow’s fellow race-baiters prowling the country’s campuses for racial incidents, black college students like Perkins are about the most protected group in America. 

If the Yale PD apprehended a suspect who is “African-American, tall and college-aged,” then this alleged incident is probably as simple as police doing their job.  But don’t count on Blow letting this one blow ever.  He is one of the most divisive, race-obsessed writers in the country.

Read more Evans at exzoom.net.