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| Scott Henson & his granddaughter Ty |
The article continues: "Henson said that Austin police proceeded to question his relationship to the girl, with one superior officer saying, 'When we get a call about a possible kidnapping we have to take it very seriously.' This wouldn't be completely egregious if it weren't for the fact that police had questioned him earlier the same day. Perhaps there been two separate 'anonymous calls' placed to 911 reporting a possible kidnapping? Henson asserts that this was harassment was nothing short of racial profiling."
More about this case, which is starting to make national news: "During both encounters with police [in 2008 and last week], Henson says, he vehemently resisted giving away personal or familial information about Ty and him. 'Not wanting to violate the failure to identify statute, I gave her my name, address and birth date, but refused to answer any other questions,' he says of the incident in 2008. Henson describes at length how both ordeals have left him fearing that his granddaughter will grow up not trusting law enforcement. For her part, according to the blog post Ty has made her own deductions, telling her grandpa in an exchange after the first incident, 'the police should leave you alone. It's not right that they want to arrest you for being my Grandpa.'"
Booker Rising response: Granted, it is unusual to see a white man with a young black child. That's probably especially the case in Texas. I think if it was a white woman with Ty or if Ty was mixed race, folks wouldn’t have tripped and dialed the police. Also, good to see the cops are vigilant about protecting black kids. However, I’d assume that he was her stepfather or adopted father (since she doesn't look like she is his biological granddaughter). Unless he was acting suspect or the girl looked like she didn’t know him, I’d glance and then keep it moving.
