The AP story tells the same basic tale.

The police have not denied it.

The men detained did not say they were treated in a less than professional manner. In fact, the CNN article quotes one of them saying that the police were very professional and only acting on the information they had.

I'm not assuming the woman lied, though I don't blame the one man for saying she did. She didn't spend 17 hours in police custody; he did. He's entitled to be angry. I think she may have thought she heard something that she didn't hear.

I wonder why the Georgia police passed on such an anemic tip to the Florida police. Was there no other witness in a whole restaurant? What would you think, if you were a Florida cop, if the police in Georgia passed on information like that? Would you assume they had a good tip? If it was such good evidence, why did it take until 1 o'clock in the morning to pull these men over if the conversation was allegedly overheard at breakfast the previous morning?

Last, I'm willing to bet that the police had never heard of the United Muslim Americans Association. So they figured that, as long as they were gentlemen (which they apparently were, within the confines of detaining people on flimsy evidence), the men would either be guilty and the police would be heroes, or the men would be released and drive away angry but quiet. Oops.

Regards--
Mary Anne