Thread: Qatari sheikh linked to speeding car likely left U.S., police say

No respect for our country or our laws.
Qatari sheikh linked to speeding car likely left U.S., police say



This frame grab from a video shows a yellow Ferrari speeding through a stop sign, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif. A Middle Eastern sheikh who allegedly said he owned a Ferrari caught on film speeding through a ... more >


Ferrari caught on video zooming through Beverly Hills (Associated Press)
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By - Associated Press - Friday, September 18, 2015

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — A Middle Eastern sheikh who allegedly said he owned a Ferrari caught on film speeding through a Beverly Hills neighborhood apparently has raced out of town, police said Thursday.

Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar has left the country and the cars are gone, authorities said at a news conference.

Al Thani owns a drag-racing team and is a member of the ruling family of oil- and gas-rich Qatar. An aficionado of fast cars, Al Thani routinely has been photographed racing cars on racetracks, including a Formula 1 racer.

The state-run Qatar News Agency did not immediately report on the incident Friday, the start of the country’s weekend. Authorities in Qatar and at the Qatari Embassy in Washington could not be immediately reached for comment.

The bright yellow, 12-cylinder LaFerrari, which can sell for around $1.4 million new, was spotted along with a white Porsche zooming down narrow streets and blowing through stop signs on Saturday evening until they finally pulled into a driveway, the Ferrari’s engine smoking.

Officers answering reports of reckless driving found both cars parked in a driveway. A man told the officers that the cars belonged to him and denied speeding or driving recklessly, police said.

The man claimed to have diplomatic immunity, but that is unlikely, Lt. Lincoln Hoshino said.

Police Chief Dominick Rivetti said the Ferrari was connected to Al Thani. However, Hoshino said investigators have not confirmed whether he actually was driving either car.

“The drivers weren’t visible on the videos or photographs,” and investigators were unable to find anyone who was willing to identify the drivers, Hoshino said.

“What I do know is you can’t claim diplomatic immunity if you don’t have it, and you can’t use that as an excuse to jeopardize the public or commit crimes,” Rivetti said.

Police will continue investigating, and if the drivers are identified they could be charged with reckless driving, Rivetti said.
The city also has passed along its outrage over the incident to the Qatari consulate via the U.S. State Department, the chief said.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...rari-leaves-c/

Then they say F*** America.
Exotic Cars Street Race Through Beverly Hills, Owner Claims Diplomatic Immunity [video]


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Published on Sep 17, 2015
How far can you go in America if you have diplomatic immunity? One Qatari man who owns very exotic vehicles, recently spoke to police about a street race he ran in the streets of Beverly Hills. He claims he is above prosecution because he has diplomatic immunity. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian (The Point) hosts of The Young Turks discuss.

Should we reconsider diplomatic immunity? What should happen to this guy? Let us know in the comments below.

Read more here: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/loc...

“The video shows a white Porsche 911 and a yellow Ferrari LaFerrari, a hybrid supercar with a combined horsepower rating of around 950, speeding through a residential tract at high speeds on Saturday evening in the 700 block of North Walden Drive. It includes an exchange between a journalist who captured the video and a man outside the house where the Ferrari was parked.

Video journalist Jacob Rogers said the man confronted him over his filming.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6uVG8GN2AE

QATARI DRAG-RACERS DID NOT HAVE DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY

The Associated Press

by KEN KLUKOWSKI
22 Sep 2015Washington, D.C.

Last week, Breitbart News reported that two Middle Easterners who had drag-raced luxury cars in Beverly Hills had tried to claim diplomatic immunity before fleeing the U.S. In fact, they did not enjoy diplomatic immunity.

Last week, a yellow Ferrari and white Porsche were caught on video driving at extreme speeds on residential streets with children present, blowing through stop signs at speeds that could be lethal to cross-traffic. The cars eventually pulled into a home that was reportedly being rented for an exorbitant $45,000 per month. A journalist confronted the alleged driver, a Qatari sheikh, for his reckless driving, whereupon the sheikh allegedly shouted “F*** America,” flicked a cigarette at the American journalist, and told him he could get away with murdering him.

Police later arrived at the home. The Qatari sheikh, Khalid bin Hamad al Thani, told police he was a member of the Qatari royal family and therefore had diplomatic immunity. The police let him be while they investigated the claim, and did not take immediate action because no officer had witnessed the incident.

It has now been confirmed that the sheikh had no diplomatic immunity. He has reportedly fled the United States, and taken his cars with him.

Diplomatic immunity is an essential element of a nation’s foreign affairs. The legal doctrine is derived from embassies. A nation hands over a plot of land to a foreign nation for that foreign power to build an embassy, which is regarded as part of the sovereign territory of that foreign nation. Countries make these mini-land-swaps to facilitate open and civil discussion between governments in order to prevent and peacefully resolve conflicts.

Diplomatic immunity is based on the legal fiction that when this country grants a plot of land to be sovereign soil of another nation, the ambassador who lives in that embassy carries that foreign soil with him wherever he goes. He becomes the personal embodiment of the foreign nation, and therefore is not subject to the jurisdiction of its laws. American ambassadors enjoy this same immunity when they represent this country in foreign lands.

This diplomatic immunity is strictly limited, however: it applies only to ambassador-rank foreign officials, their families, their superiors (foreign heads of state and foreign ministers), and other high-ranking officers as official representatives of the foreign nation. Such people cannot be charged with crimes in their host nation.

If they offend the U.S. government, twe can expel them permanently from the United States. Their home country can also choose to withdraw immunity from that person, opening him or her up to criminal prosecution here.

There is no excuse for letting the speedsters get away with his allegedly criminal acts. When he claimed immunity, the police could have demanded immediate proof of immunity before backing off.

For example, in Washington, D.C., diplomats’ cars have special license plates so that law enforcement officers know if they are dealing with a person who might be immune to American law. Otherwise, anyone pulled over by a police officer could simply shout, “I have diplomatic immunity,” and drive off.

If the sheikh failed to produce any evidence, then the police could have presumed that he was not immune. And once they saw the video showing these brazen and dangerous actions, even though the video did not conclusively identify the driver, the officers should have been able to impound the car and detain its owner. They should also have taken his passport.

It is unclear whether the police’s actions were influenced by a “celebrity justice” approach of going easy on rich and famous people, or political correctness because the individuals in question were obviously Middle Eastern Muslims. What is clear is that the situation should have been handled differently, and the responsible people held to account in an American court of law.

http://www.breitbart.com/california/...atic-immunity/