N.C. A&T professor M. Reza Salami answers his many critics:
The question here is not whether the Guilford County sheriff’s deputy who on Nov. 24 ticketed me at a sobriety checkpoint should be free to practice his religion — but whether he should impose his religion on others.
I am not at all bitter about being stopped at the sobriety checkpoint. In fact, I am grateful that our police officers sacrifice their time away from their families to conduct such checkpoints to stop drunken drivers and promote responsible drinking and driving practices.
When I was stopped, I was asked to sit in the back of Deputy M. Osborne’s squad car (after I had passed the breath test) while the officer searched my car. After the search, the officer stated to me that he was writing me a ticket for having empty, open containers (four to five wine bottles) in my car.
First, as I told the deputy, those empty bottles were there to be taken to a recycling plant and I should not have been given a ticket for having them in the car. I intend to defend myself against that charge…..
….(W)e who are in positions of authority should not impose our religion on others. This is embedded in our Constitution. I sincerely hope I have made a difference by highlighting the importance of preserving the freedoms we have in our country and never taking them for granted.
