ABC journalist Nabil Al Nashar accuses a police officer of making a racist joke

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An ABC reporter has accused a NSW police officer of racism after an incident in Parramatta in Sydney’s west.

ABC News Western Sydney reporter Nabil Al Nashar has alleged in a now-viral Twitter thread that an NSW police officer unfairly profiled him because of his Middle Eastern appearance while he was on the job , reporting the alleged murder of a 31-year-old woman. .

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The Qatari-born former SBS reporter tweeted on Tuesday night: “Tis the season to be racist!

“While I was reporting on a horrific murder case (doing my job) outside #Parramatta @nswpolice 2 officers walk up to me and my cameraman.

“Officer: Are you doing suspicious activity?

“Me: No, we are media covering a murder case. »

The police officer then asked Mr. Al Nashar and a cameraman to move to the sidewalk as they were on private property, and he said they immediately agreed. “But the comedian officer decided it was a slow day and he wanted to do a bit,” he continued.

The police officer then asked what media outlet Mr Al Nashar worked for, and when he replied that he worked for the national television channel, the officer started “laughing to himself”.

Shockingly, the officer reportedly said, “Are you sure you’re not with…Al Jazeera?”

The reporter shot back and said, “No, what makes you say that?”

The officer reportedly started looking “up and down” at the reporter while laughing heartily, before replying, “You’re all casual downstairs, business upstairs.”

Mr Al Nashar asked for clarification, wondering if this was “something AJ journalists are known for”, before the officer walked away from the situation while continuing to laugh.

Mr Al Nashar confirmed in the same thread that he had made a formal complaint about the incident to NSW Police.

“You’d think he had bigger fish to fry…idk maybe…catch and onto the loose murder suspect linked to the murder of a 31-year-old woman this Sunday.

“No, the big man has racist jokes… because I look Arab,” he lamented.

The original post garnered nearly 1,500 likes overnight, with many people in the comments criticizing state police forces for the behavior.

“I’m sorry you had this experience, Nabil. I’m glad you brought it up here and filed a complaint. I feel awful knowing someone could be treated this way. Being profiled and mocked by someone in service with @NSWPolice is not OK. What kind of culture? said one user.

In response, Mr Al Nashar said, “I could have gotten to him right away, but unlike him, we are professionals and we had a job to do. I’m curious to see what will come out of the complaint process.

“I want a face-to-face apology from this officer.”

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