Alert CR Mom Defends Her Posting Picture of Suspicious Men

A Cedar Rapids woman is defending her actions of posting a picture of two men she says were acting suspiciously on Tuesday afternoon at Noelridge Park on the city's northeast side.

The woman is the mother of a 2-year old girl, and she says the men asked her daughter inappropriate questions, even though the girl's grandmother was right there in their presence.

The grandmother intervened and quickly left the park with her granddaughter. The mother arrived shortly after and snapped a photo of the two men in question. She then left the park and followed up with a post of the men's photo on her Facebook page and described what happened in detail.

Her post got immediate attention - dozens of concerned citizens commented and it eventually drew a response from the Cedar Rapids Police Department.

Some comments criticized her posting of the picture, saying it could put the two men in danger of unwarranted retaliation.

She says she did not immediately contact police because she knew that without proof of a crime being committed, there was little that police could do at that point.

The CRPD posted on their Facebook page yesterday that they will be "conducting additional patrols around Noelridge Park to address concerns that have been publicly posted."

Many of the comments on both the CRPD post and the woman's Facebook posts spoke of similar sightings of these two men at other locations around town.

As there have been no crimes yet reported in this instance, CRPD says those claims are considered unsubstantiated at this time. After all, in America a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Fair enough. 

But the concern still lingers. No one wants to be labeled a "Karen" or the "boy who cried wolf". But no one should ignore their instincts if they believe something is genuinely wrong.  

This woman's concerns are genuine and sincere. As other people continued to post descriptions of their own encounters with these two men, it would seem these two guys would do themselves a favor, and rethink their curious behavior.

There is never a good time to act in a suspicious manner, especially these days. And making inappropriate comments to other's children is way out of bounds for anyone.

As a parent, there is too much to worry about with the real fear of abductions and human trafficking. No one needs to tell you there is real danger in the world.

You're not being a Karen if the danger is real.