Derin Sular

[A police officer pulls over by Mr. Sular as he is photographing Downtown St. Paul, Minnesota.]

Police Officer: Hi.

Mr. Sular: Hi.

Police Officer: May I ask what you’re photographing?

Mr. Sular: Sure. I’m trying to take photos of whatever I find interesting in the city. The river, the people, and especially the buildings.

Police Officer: And why are you doing that?

Mr. Sular: Because I’m going to leave this state soon, and I want to take the photos with me as souvenirs.

Police Officer: Yeah, I understand. Where are you going?

Mr. Sular: To Canada.

Police Officer: So you guys are Canadian?

Mr. Sular: We’re originally Turkish, but yes, we’re Canadian.

Police Officer: All right then… You know we want to ask people questions when we see something suspicious. If someone’s taking photos in downtown, for example, we want to take a look and see what exactly this person is doing.

Mr. Sular: Well… What can I say? Thanks for keeping an eye. But are there not a lot of people who take photos in downtown?

Police Officer: Well, actually no.

Mr. Sular (surprised): Really?… So do we look dangerous? (smiles)

Police Officer (also smiles): Well, no, but you never know. For example, if we see someone who wears stuff like… you know… (turns his hands around his head) like a Muslim terrorist, that’s one thing, but normal-looking guys may be very dangerous as well. There was this guy who bombed the building in Oklahoma City, for example. I can’t remember his name, but he was a very normal-looking white guy.

Mr. Sular: His name was Timothy.

Police Officer: Yeah, Timothy. I can’t remember his last name though. But he was like every other white guy.

Mr. Sular: Yeah, but he was a soldier, and at some point in his life, he got really mad at the government, and wanted to take revenge for what he believed the government was doing wrong. That’s why he bombed a federal building, and not just any other building. They finally executed him, but the due process took about 6 years though. But in the end, yes, you’re right, you can’t know what every single person is up to…

Police Officer: Yeah.

Mr. Sular: I actually don’t have a problem with the law enforcement officers asking people questions whenever they deem necessary. In fact, this is not the first time a police officer asks me why I’m taking photos. Last year I was at Albany, New York, and I was taking photos of a Chevrolet Corvette parked right across the street from the City Hall when a police officer driving by stopped his car, and asked me why I was taking the photos of that car. I told him that the car is a classic, and I almost have to take its photos, and then he started laughing and told me that it was actually his friend’s car, and this is why he wanted to check out what was going on. Then we talked and laughed a little, and everything was OK.