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Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown Professor Accused of Calling German Officer a ‘Nazi’

CHRISTINEFAIR.NET

Georgetown Professor Christine Fair was detained after an incident in the Frankfurt Airport in early January.
CHRISTINEFAIR.NET Georgetown Professor Christine Fair was detained after an incident in the Frankfurt Airport in early January.

A Georgetown School of Foreign Service professor who has come under fire for allegedly calling a German police officer a “Nazi” is denying German officials’ accusations.

Christine Fair denies a German police report’s accusation that she called a German police officer “Nazi Police” at Frankfurt airport in Germany on Jan. 11.

The alleged confrontation occurred after an airport security agent pulled Fair aside and summoned a German police officer, as required by German law, after an X-ray machine at a security checkpoint indicated her luggage might contain explosives.

CHRISTINEFAIR.NET
Georgetown Professor Christine Fair was detained after an incident in the Frankfurt Airport in early January.

According to a German police report, after determining Fair’s bag did not contain explosives, police found loose cosmetics that were not packed according to EU regulations and liquids that exceeded the permitted amount. After the police suggested Fair store a roll-on deodorant in her carry-on bag, the police report states Fair reacted aggressively and called the police “f–king bastards” and “f–king Nazi police.”

Witnesses corroborate the account, the police report said.

Fair’s account differs from that of the police report. She denies the allegations about her comments regarding the German police officer, citing her respect for authority despite her belief that the policeman and the airport security agent were corrupt.

“The whole thing was a straight up shakedown. At the end of the day, this officer just did not want a customer service complaint. If I were a white guy, this wouldn’t be happening to me. For example, the cop called me a hippie. Why am I of all people derided as a hippie?”  Fair said.

Fair claims she was held for roughly 2½ hours by the policeman and the baggage attendant, who she said perjured himself to support the allegations made by the policeman.

Fair told the policeman she would have rather been taken to jail and go before a judge, who she believed would dismiss the allegations against her. The policeman instead charged her what was later described as “bail,” according to The Washington Post.

The report says Fair was charged a $260 fee for legal costs, as determined by a public prosecutor. However, Fair alleges that the policeman arbitrarily took $260 from her wallet as a fee for her conduct, leaving her with $40 out of what the policeman called “generosity.”

“He literally told me to pull my wallet, and then he told me to take my money out of my wallet and arranged the bills by denomination and then took what he wanted,” Fair said.

Fair was also accused of saying the man behind her in line had a “Hitler Youth haircut,” a statement that she agrees to having said. This comment comes after having had numerous altercations with people Fair has described as “American Nazis.” Last spring, Fair confronted white nationalist Richard Spencer and played a role in the a local gym’s termination of his membership.

Fair was brought to a police station where local German police launched a preliminary investigation in response to the defamation charges, according to a Jan. 19 .

The police refused to view the video tape of the airport interaction while she was in custody, Fair said. When she told the policeman that she wanted to file a complaint about him, he threatened her with arrest.

“He’s not a Nazi. He’s just an abusive cop,” Fair said.

Rachel Pugh, Georgetown’s senior director for strategic communications, said faculty have a right to freedom of speech and expression.

“The views of faculty members expressed in their private capacities are their own and not the views of the University,” Pugh wrote in an email to The Hoya. “While Georgetown is committed to free speech and expression, we do not approve of or endorse every statement made by our faculty members. We are also deeply committed to the safety, security, and wellbeing of each member of our community.”

Fair said this event has altered her perspective on travelling abroad.

“I’m still a bit gun shy about going to an airport,” Fair said. “I don’t ever want to be on the inside of a police station again. I felt like they could have done anything to me, and I didn’t know when this was going to end and that was just a scary place to be.”

After Fair was released, she was allowed to continue on her trip to Istanbul. She published several tweets in which she said she was robbed by a German police officer and insulted the German police, according to the German police report.

In response to the controversy, Fair wrote an article published by the Huffington Post in which she described her account of the incident in detail.

Fair says she was sent photos of a German newspaper and multiple links to press releases that published her picture and full name in the report of the incident, which Fair considers a direct violation of the German press code, which recommends that an alleged criminal’s full name only be published under certain circumstances.

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    Manuel A. MirandaFeb 8, 2018 at 8:41 am

    Wait, is this the Christine Fair who directed vulgar harassment at a Muslim woman — and former colleague — merely for disagreeing with her politically? She is calling someone a Nazi?

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