LISTEN: Florida Man Calls 9-11 After Comedian Makes Terrorist Joke
A Florida man called the police the day after taking in a stand-up comedian’s set at the Off The Hook Comedy Club in Naples this week, but the joke is on him now that police have released the 9-11 call recording. It is… really something.
Comedian Ahmed Ahmed performed on Sunday night, and on Monday he got a visit from the cops. He shared the moment on Twitter. You can watch that below. But first, here is the full 9-11 audio, released by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
“I don’t know if I have the right department, but last evening I went to a comedy show. And the comedy show is happening again tonight,” said the Florida man. “There was a comedian, he’s, um– his name is Ahmed Ahmed and he’s, um, you know, Middle Eastern. And the first thing he said when he got out on stage was ‘okay how many Middle Eastern people do we have here?’ And a whole bunch of people raised their hand. I guess they went to go see him because he’s Middle Eastern. You know, when you hear the name Ahmed Ahmed…”
As he’s talking you can hear the dispatcher’s “uh-huh” replies becoming more and more uncomfortable and, if this is something you can picture, audible eye rolling.
“So, and there weren’t a lot of people there, I guess because of the name. I went because I got free tickets,” he said to explain why he was there so there would be no mistake that he would pay to go see a comedian who is “um, you know, Middle Eastern.”
“As the people raised their hands, so where are you from, oh I’m from Iraq, I’m from Iran, I’m from Pakistan, I’m from here, I’m from there,” he said, recounting the roll call. “He said, ‘that’s great.’ He said, ‘we should organize our own little terrorist organization.'”
“And I don’t think that was right, I mean it really bothered me,” he said. “And I yelled out, yeah and the paddy wagon is going to be outside to get all of you.”
“I don’t know, is that something that should not be said? Something should be done about it?” said the Florida man.
If that part isn’t disturbing enough, wait for the end of the call. “I was debating on whether I should call or not, but I just think it’s terrible,” he said to close. “There were about 25, you know, Muslims there. So.”
The police did check it out, per the call, and Ahmed Ahmed put the clip online of that interaction.
This happened to me last night @OTHComedyClub in Naples, Florida! An audience member called 9-11 on me because “they feared for their lives” over a joke I told on stage. That’s never happened to me or any comedian I believe. Fucking crazy man. The cops were even like “WTF”? ??♂️??♂️ pic.twitter.com/hQezwJPXhw
— AHMED AHMED (@ahmedcomedy) May 13, 2019
Brien Spina, Off the Hook Comedy Club CEO, told reporters that the caller didn’t even get the joke right.
“I think [Ahmed] said – I don’t want to misquote the joke – he said, ‘I knew there was at least one of us in here.’ Then he pauses, and then he goes, ‘Comedians of course. Comedians,'” Brien Spina, Off the Hook Comedy Club CEO said. “And so everybody in their mind thinks that he’s going to say something like a terrorist or something, but he says comedians, and that’s the joke. So I think the guy wasn’t even probably paying attention.”
“I don’t know if it’s fear, racism, ignorance, or Islamophobia, or whatever you want to call it,” said the comic about the call. “It’s unfortunate that somebody was very adamant about making a point to make a 911 call.”
Watch the clip above via WBBH NBC-2 in Naples.
