May 17, 2023
Note: Regarding recording of phone calls, Illinois is a two-party consent state. Ms. Jensen now lives and works in Indiana. I drove across the Indiana border to make the call. Indiana is a one-party consent state. As long as you are one of the people talking on the phone, you can record the call.
PHONE RINGS.
Ms. Jensen: Hello?
Safiya: Ms. Jensen? Ms. Patricia Jensen?
Ms. Jensen: Yes? Who is this? I should be on the Do Not Call list for whatever you’re selling.
Safiya: Oh, no. Sorry. I’m not a telemarketer. My name is Safiya Mirza. I’m a sophomore at Northwestern. Studying journalism.
Ms. Jensen: Okay, and…?
Safiya: I’d like to talk to you about Jawad Ali and the toy jet pack he made. You were the one who called it in to the police.
Ms. Jensen: Of course I did. He had a bomb! I was trying to save the lives of every child in that school. I was doing my job.
Safiya: According to the 911 tape, you said, “An Arab kid has a bomb. They want to kill us all. Why do they hate us?” But it wasn’t a bomb. It was a costume—
Ms. Jensen: I know what it was. A threat. I know what you’re trying to do—twist my words, take them out of context. One of the cops told me I’d done the right thing. That these people infiltrate our schools. They stay quiet, unsuspecting. Like ghosts, he said.
Safiya: And did you ask for Jawad to be removed from your class even when he was cleared by police? He was innocent.
Ms. Jensen: Why… I… I… Look. You should be ashamed of yourself, young lady. Harassing people on the phone. I know what you’re insinuating. Like all the people who called me a racist. I’m not responsible for what happened to that boy—
Safiya: That boy had a name. It was—
LINE DISCONNECTS.