One second, Radja Nainggolan is just chilling in a hotel in Antwerp, Belgium, minding his own business. The next, police are showing up to investigate him as a suspected terrorist.
According to The Mirror, the 27-year-old Nainggolan drew concerns from hotel guests that he might be a terrorist. The grounds for these concerns, per the report: He is half-Indonesian -- though a Belgian national -- and had the audacity to wear both tattoos and a hat.
Nainggolan is clearly the victim of increased anxieties over terrorism in Europe, but the speculation based on his appearance is a poor example of how regular citizens conceptualize terrorists and other potential threats to society. There's good news, however: Police quickly determined that the successful professional soccer player was not a terrorist.
Fortunately, Nainggolan was able to laugh about the misunderstanding, as were the police. They all took a photo together, which found its way to Twitter:
#Belgio, chiamano la Polizia perché vedono un sospetto: era #Nainggolan! | pic.twitter.com/sMi1Ru2etn | via @_Naoufal | https://t.co/yzh95IgDQZ
— Tackle DUR⚽️ (@tackleduro) November 19, 2015
In today's world, that's the price you pay for being a tattooed Indonesian wearing a hat.
