You’ve never been busy and left a bag to unpack later ? You’ve never been unfairly accused ? There are soooo many more Non-malicious ways, that most of these events could be explained, that it’s difficult to Not see the deck as repeatedly stacked against this pilot. If he knew he had not “stolen” anything, and had confidence in being cleared later, reporting no crime might well be the closest-to-right-possible thing to do in our intolerant impatient world. Take away white, established, and knowing how things work, and a great many people’s lives would spiral down the drain at first hiccup. I have no facts beyond what’s to be read here, but am struck by the lack of compassion expressed for someone who has probably been trying to do the right thing all along. Just short of captain suggests we are discussing a highly skilled person, who has accomplished all that despite existing while black, yet few seem inclined to even start with presumption of innocence. Excavating anyone’s life will expose stuff that can be misinterpreted, and it’s easy to find fault and place blame, especially with 20:20 hindsight. Why steal a suitcase, which just happens to look like your own, giving up your suitcase and important papers in the process ? Dropping everything to inform the FAA of such a trivial possible misstep seems like it reflects considerable preexisting bias. I hear enormous ignorance here of just how steeply uphill the lives of most people can be, not even counting racism.
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