When your house gets burglarized, you call the cops. There are good reasons to do that even if the chances of anyone catching the burglar are vanishingly small. You'll need a police report for insurance, and it's good for the cops to know what's going on in the neighborhood.

But be warned. If you live in Harris County, Texas, and you happen to be brown or wear a turban, and you call the cops when you get robbed, the police investigation might take a different bounce than you anticipate. They might tell you that they "know about Muslims" — even if, like most people who wear a turban in this country, you are actually a Sikh. They might ask you about the terror attacks in Mumbai (which they, of course, will refer to as Bombay). And God help you if one of them sees that you are wearing a Kirpan in your own home:

Then the deputy noticed his sister's Kirpan, a small ceremonial knife she wears sheathed on her hip.

The Kirpan is a religious article mandated by the Sikh faith, explained Kawaljeet Kaur, 35. "It's a constant reminder to me that I need to promote justice for all," she said.

The deputy "freaked out," Singh said.

"Before you know it, he has a taser pointed at her forehead, he's calling for backup, he's raising his voice, like, 'Shut up, shut up! '"

"I told him, you know, I'm a law-abiding citizen," Kaur said. "Treat me with respect."

She offered to leave the room if the Kirpan upset him, but pointed out that it was her constitutional right to practice her religion in her own home.

"He said, 'I don't care about that,' " Singh remembered.

He said the situation deteriorated when other deputies arrived and began handcuffing family members, including Kaur's 60-year-old mother.

"They were using the f-word, and we had an 8-year-old in the house," Singh said.

One deputy pushed Kaur to the ground and pressed his knee to her back.

That's only consistent. We all know how strongly Texans feel about restricting the possession of weapons.

That's how your whole family can wind up handcuffed in a police car.

You can see a picture of the Kirpan through the link.

Remember, cops are your friends.

Via.

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