Davie, Fla.
Police held three Muslim medical students for 17 hours last week after a woman claimed they had threatened to “make America cry again.” The men were traveling from Kansas City to Miami, and stopped to eat at a Shoney’s restaurant in Georgia. Eunice Stone, 44, said they laughed about 9/11, and hinted that another attack was looming. Police caught up to the trio in Florida, and shut down the state’s main east-west highway while bomb squads scoured their cars. The men—Kambiz Butt, 25; Ayman Gheith, 27; and Omer Choudhary, 23—promptly held a news conference to clear their names. “We’re medical students,” said Butt. “We’re not terrorists.” Police speculated that the men might have become irritated by Stone’s suspicious staring, and made fake threats to mock her. Miffed by the bad publicity, the Miami hospital where the men planned to study told them they were no longer welcome.
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