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Contact: Elliot Chan, Opinions Editor
™ opinions@theotherpress.ca

Making an enemy

» Beware of trigger-happy accusations

z Elliot Chan
fo Opinions Editor
r », M opinions@theotherpress.ca

was watching this show on
Netflix. I believe you might
have heard of it. It’s called

Making a Murderer, and it follows :
: so happen to be “Middle Eastern
: looking,” were leaked onto the

: Internet and news feed were

: flooded with the question: Can

: you identify these individuals?

the heinous trials, mistrials,
and accusations against a
man named Steven Avery.

The 10-part documentary
covers many levels of the legal
process from the investigation,
to the prosecutions, to the
judgment. It’s an intriguing and
frustrating watch and a fine
example of injustice presented
as justice. It’s an example of how
our society always has a finger
on the trigger, ready to place
someone in the line of fire so that
we can feel safe. If you have been
resisting the urge to see Making
a Murderer, don’t. Watch it. It’ll

: teach you to think twice the next
: time you point your finger.

This has been the case closer

: to home. On January 12, three

: suspicious men were spotted

: filming exits and entrances of

: Pacific Centre in Vancouver. The

images of these men, who just

When I saw the images of

: those men, my initial reaction

: was perhaps the same as many
: other citizens. With the Paris

: attacks fresh in my mind, |

: wanted someone to find these

: people and get them locked

: up as quickly as possible, and

: I'd just stay as far from Pacific

: Centre as possible. It’s true

: that, while racial profiling is

: wrong, the instinctual reaction
: to protect the hive is not. For

: those that shared the images of

: the suspicious behaviour, I say,

: well done. Although it might

: have been a false alarm, we did a
: good job alerting everyone about

: men. Apparently, the reason
: for filming everything in the
: mall was because of a sight

: impairment. It was a curious

 

(¥ Don't trap yourself with the bridges you burn

(¥ The powerless and the Powerball
(¥ War of the Words: Justin Trudeau

And more!

 

: case, but nothing illegal. To me

: it still sounds rather suspicious,

: but I haven't spoken to those

: people. All I know is what the

: media is offering... and so it goes.

: something The police :
: suspicious could have

: that could easily taken

: have the other

: escalated With the Paris attacks direction and
: intoa horrific ; ; showed some
: crisis, fresh in my mind, I grit. But if

: Td wanted someone to we started

: also like to ; punishing

? commend find these people and innocent

: the eople for
Vancouver oh them locked up as incidents like
: Police quickly as possible. this, then

: Department the terrorists
: for efficiently would have

: exonerating won. Many

: those department

: stores have policies that forbid
: filming and photography;

: perhaps Pacific Centre can

: implement something of that

\
i : ee é
Mohammed Kareem, Salahuddin Sharaz, 14, and dad Mohammed Sharaz; Image via SALIM JIWA / THE CANADIAN PRESS

: measure to keep the innocent
: behaving innocently.

As for the fact that we

: were all in one way or another
: caught in the act of racial

profiling, I want to ask: how

> can we avoid that in the future
: and still stay diligent? Let’s

: be honest, if there were three

: Asian men taking pictures in

: Vancouver, we wouldn’t bat

: an eye. But since they were

: “Middle Eastern looking” we

: all jumped to conclusions.

We must honour the

: fact that people are innocent

: until proven guilty. We must

: remember how disgusted we felt
: when watching the world turn

: their back on Steven Avery in

: Making a Murderer. Should the

: world be documenting us fora

: Netflix original, do we want to

: bea despicable character? Or do
: we want to be the ones that side
: with the full story and justice?