Maine: Muslima on Portland police force resigns after being charged with assault and battery and resisting arrest

The appointment of Zahra Munye Abu to the Portland, Maine police force was a lauded police first, like the hiring in Minneapolis of police officer Mohamed Noor, who killed an unarmed pajama-clad woman, Justine Damond, for no reason that has ever been disclosed (he was, however, finally arrested, months after the shooting, after he refused to talk for an extended period).

These Muslims were put on police forces because they were Muslim, not because they were competent officers. And it is the public that pays the price. The police should be chosen on merit, not so as to pander to a pressure group. Mohamed Noor and Zahra Munye Abu never should have been police officers in the first place. All police hiring based on race or religion rather than on competence ought to be ended immediately.

“Portland police officer who was arrested in Massachusetts resigns,” by Matt Byrne, Press Herald, June 11, 2018:

The Portland Police Department’s first Somali police officer resigned Sunday before the department could complete an internal affairs investigation prompted by her arrest at a Massachusetts nightclub in January.

Zahra M. Abu, 25, of Portland had been on paid administrative leave since she was charged by Worcester police with assault and battery, resisting arrest, trespassing, disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace on Jan. 13.

The charges stem from alleged conduct inside the Palladium, a music venue where Abu was attending a concert by Ja Rule and Ashanti.

Abu pleaded not guilty to the charges. She has remained free on personal recognizance and was ordered to stay away from the Palladium.

Meanwhile, Portland police said they were conducting an internal review of the incident. In announcing the resignation, city officials declined to offer any details of what the internal review found.

“Zahra Abu voluntarily resigned from the Portland Police Department on June 10 prior to the completion of the police department’s Internal Affairs investigation,” wrote Jessica Grondin, spokeswoman for the city. “As this is a confidential personnel matter, no additional information can or will be released.”…

In a report filed in court, Worcester police said the 5-foot-2, 130-pound officer was acting aggressively toward concert hall staff and pushed her way through the crowd, “physically assaulting several customers.” Told by security and police that her behavior was unacceptable and she was “no longer welcome on the property,” Abu was asked to leave “two to three dozen times,” according to the report.

Worcester police Officer Christopher Grilli wrote that after being told she was under arrest, Abu “tensed her body and tried to pull away from us in an effort to evade arrest. She squirmed around and tried to free herself from the handcuffs.”

The report alleges that Abu swore at police, questioned their training and time in service and “refused to cease her profanity-laced comments toward staff.”

Outside, as officers waited for a patrol wagon to take Abu to police headquarters, she moved toward another patron and said, “They’re racial profiling, I see you there, girl,” according to court documents.

Abu gained widespread media and community attention two years ago when she became the first member of Maine’s Somali community to be sworn in as a police officer….