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Chronology of Islam in America (2014)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
December 2014
Racial profiling will still be allowed at airports, along border despite new policy
Dec 5: As the Obama administration prepares to announce new curbs on racial profiling by federal law enforcement, government officials said today that many officers and agents at the Department of Homeland Security will still be allowed to use the controversial practice, including while they screen airline passengers and guard the country’s southwestern border. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is expected early next week to detail long-awaited revisions in the Justice Department’s rules for racial profiling, banning it from national security cases for the first time. The changes will also expand the definition of profiling to prevent FBI agents from considering factors such as religion and national origin when opening cases, officials said. But after sharp disagreements among top officials, the administration will exempt a broad swath of DHS, namely the Transportation Security Administration and key parts of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to law enforcement officials. The announcement of the new policy comes at a time of rising national protest over allegations that police engage in profiling when investigating and using force against minorities. The debate has been fueled by the recent deaths of three unarmed African Americans at the hands of police in Ferguson, Mo., New York and Cleveland, and the absence so far of criminal charges against the white police officers who were involved. [Washington Post]
FBI investigating possible hate crime in fatal hit-and-run of Muslim boy in KC
Dec 5: The FBI announced today it was investigating the fatal, and apparently intentional, hit-and-run incident that killed a 15-year-old Muslim Somali boy as a potential hate crime. The boy, identified by police Friday as Abdisamad Sheikh-Hussein, was killed yesterday evening as he was leaving the Somali Center of Kansas City. A Kansas City Muslim group and a Kansas group with ties to a national organization called for such a federal probe following the boy's death in what witnesses told police appeared to be a deliberate attempt to strike the teenager with an SUV. Abdisamad, a sophomore at Staley High School in Kansas City, Kan., had his legs nearly severed in the incident Thursday and he was taken to Children’s Mercy Hospital where he died, a dispatcher confirmed. The Kansas City Muslim Community is “deeply shocked,” according to a press release from Zulfiqar Malik, a board member with the Heartland Muslim Council. In another release, the Kansas Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations cited Somali Center officials as saying a man had been threatening Muslims in Kansas City for months. It also said the vehicle involved in the boy’s death was seen months before bearing anti-Islamic message written on a rear window in broken English. The victim and another person were getting into a parked car when the driver of a Chevrolet SUV sideswiped them. “This was intentional,” said police Sgt. Bill Mahoney. The SUV was disabled by the crash. The driver, described as in his mid-30s, was alone in the vehicle. He fled on foot but was quickly arrested. Police said he had a machete and other weapons. [The Kansas City Star]
Hundreds attend memorial service for slain Kansas City teen
Dec 7: Several hundred people packed into the Somali Center of Kansas City today to honor the memory of the teenager who was killed in a hit and run last week. More than a dozen faith-based organizations and some civic leaders attended the memorial service for Abdisamad "Adam" Sheikh-Hussein to show their solidarity with his family and the Somali community. Mindy Corporon, mother of Reit Underwood and daughter of William Corporon, the two victims of the Jewish Community Center shooting last spring, was also at Sheikh-Hussein's memorial. She tried to lend family members some words of comfort. "Listening to Adam's family talk about him, he sounds very much like our Reit," Corporon said. "I'm here so Adam's family and [the Somali community] knows that they're not alone." Youth members of the Somali Center are now putting together a foundation to help prevent hate crimes and promote religious tolerance. The man suspected in Sheikh-Hussein’s death has been charged with a number of offenses, including first-degree murder. The FBI is currently investigating the killing as a possible hate crime. [KCUR.ORG]
Concern over that New DOJ guidelines allow profiling of Muslims
Dec 8: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today expressed concerns about the fact that the newly-released U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revision of its "Guidance Regarding the Use of Race by Federal Law Enforcement Agencies" retains "Muslim" carve-outs on profiling by government agencies at airports and borders. While it is reported that the new guidelines extend the existing ban on federal law enforcement profiling on the basis of religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity, it retains exemptions for Department of Homeland Security agents' use of religion, national origin and other characteristics to profile at airports and the border and allow the FBI to "map" minority communities to place informants. In a statement, CAIR, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights organization, said the new guidelines do not apply to local or state law enforcement but does apply to state and local officers in federal law enforcement taskforces. [CAIR]
Civil rights suit filed against Bensalem township (Philadelphia) over mosque refusal
Dec 8: The Philadelphia Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Philadelphia) and Storzer & Greene, P.L.L.C. filed a federal lawsuit today on behalf of a Muslim congregation called Bensalem Masjid challenging the discriminatory and burdensome zoning system in Bensalem, Pa., as well as the township's denial of their variance application to build the first mosque in Bensalem. Bensalem has more than 200 Muslim families who currently pray in a fire hall because the township has no mosque. "Our community has spent five years simply trying to find an appropriate place to come together to pray," said Dr. Imtiaz Chaudhry, one of the members of Bensalem Masjid. "All we want is the same freedom to practice our religion that other faith groups have in Bensalem." "Bensalem's zoning scheme gives the township unbridled discretion over which religious groups can worship in the township, and they've chosen to deny Muslims the opportunity to build the township's first mosque," said Roman Storzer, one of the attorneys representing Bensalem Masjid.
Bensalem requires religious facilities to be built only on specially zoned lots. The lawsuit alleges that all such lots are occupied or otherwise unavailable to Bensalem Masjid. The congregation sought permission to build the mosque near several other churches and schools on Hulmeville Road. However, the Zoning Hearing Board denied the application, despite having granted similar applications by applicants of other faith The lawsuit alleges violations of the United States Constitution's protections for free expression, free exercise of religion, and equal treatment, as well as violations of federal and state statutory protections for freedom of religion. "Every American has a right to the free exercise of religion on equal terms with other religions, and governments cannot restrict that free exercise without a good reason. Bensalem Township violated those fundamental principles by refusing to allow the construction of a mosque without any compelling reasons for doing so," said CAIR Staff Attorney Ryan Tack-Hooper, co-counsel for Bensalem Masjid. [CAIR]
The ADC urges Congress to address key civil and human rights issues at senate hearing
Dec 9: The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights held a hearing today entitled The State of Civil and Human Rights in the United States. The hearing examined the status of important civil and human rights issues, including surveillance reform, profiling and law enforcement, criminal justice reform, voting rights, the militarization of law enforcement, and police-community relations. The ADC President Samer Khalaf and ADC’s staff attended the hearing to show strong support for civil rights and call for much needed reforms. The ADC also submitted an official statement for the record.
In the statement, the ADC expressed widespread concerns that Federal, state, and local law enforcement continue to disproportionately target Arab Americans and other minority communities for investigation, interrogation, and arrest. ADC is concerned that the U.S. Department of Justice’s Guidance for Federal law enforcement agencies does not do enough to prohibit the current discriminatory practices of profiling based on race, ethnicity, national origin, and religion. For example, while prohibiting profiling for routine or spontaneous law enforcement decisions, such as traffic stops, the DOJ’s guidelines still allow Federal law enforcement officers including the FBI and TSA to utilize profiling in the context of national security and immigration law. The ADC also urged Congress to pass a number of pertinent reforms and practical bills in order to help address the human and civil rights issues that were discussed in the hearing. The ADC called on Congress to pass legislation including the End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA) (S.1038), the USA Freedom Act (S. 2685), the Smarter Sentencing Act (H.R. 3382/S. 1410), the Democracy Restoration Act (DRA) (H.R. 4459/ S. 2235), and the Voting Rights Amendment Act (H.R. 3899/S. 1945).
Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) presided over the hearing, and Members of Congress and leaders from the civil rights community participated in the hearing as witnesses. The first panel of witnesses to testify included Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), and Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN). As the first Muslim Congressman, Rep. Ellison testified regarding the pervasive Islamophobia in America, including the rise of hate crimes against Muslim Americans since 9-11. The second panel included testimony from Wade Henderson (President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights), Dr. Cedric Alexander (President of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives), and Laura Murphy (Director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office). In addition to articulating the concerns of the civil rights community, this panel of community leaders called on Congress to take immediate action to pass common sense reforms to protect our rights. [ADC]
Somali American cabbie beaten in alleged Seattle hate crime
Dec 10: A 26-year-old man is accused of a hate crime after allegedly beating a Somali American cab driver while calling him a “terrorist” and asking him if he was a member of ISIS. Two other passengers who rode with him allegedly participated in the early Sunday morning assault, according to police. Jesse Alexander Fleming, 26, was charged today in King County Superior Court on suspicion of second-degree assault and malicious harassment, a charge that alleges that the attack was motivated by racial, ethnic or religious bias. Fleming, of San Manuel, Arizona, is on active duty in the military, according to charging papers. The driver, Adan Ali Gaal, 34, was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken nose that may require surgery, according to the charging documents from the prosecutor’s office. Gaal spoke earlier this week to television reporters, who shared photos of the taxi driver after the attack. The case is the second high profile assault of a cab driver in Seattle with alleged racial or religious motivation in the past two years. [The Seattle Globist]
Urine placed at Muslim chaplain’s office at WFU
Dec 11: A bucket of urine was found in November in front of the office of Imam Khalid Griggs of the Wake Forest University, North Carolina. According to Winston-Salem Journal, it was the latest in a series incidents involving issues of race, religion and ethnicity at WFU during the past four months. The Rev. Tim Auman, the university chaplain, said that the incident was regrettable, but the aftermath fostered a sense of unity. “It is, in many ways, bringing out the best in Wake Forest students, faculty and staff by creating opportunities for conversation, education and greater understanding,” Auman said. “What speaks volumes is how the campus community has rallied in support of Imam Griggs.” In a statement released by the university, Griggs said he appreciated the support he received “in the aftermath of the unconscionable act directed at me.” [Winston-Salem Journal NC]
FSU professor resigns after disparaging remarks about Muslims
Dec 11: Deborah O’Connor, a Florida State University professor, resigned after making racial slurs and disparaging remarks about Muslims, in a heated Facebook exchange about recent police killings of unarmed blacks. “Obama has single-handedly turned our once great society into a Ghetto Culture, rivaling that of Europe. France is almost at war because of his filthy rodent Muslims who are attacking Native Frenchmen and women,” O’Connor wrote in one response to a stranger on the Facebook thread. [Orlando Sentine]
ADC defends right to religious accommodation in Supreme Court Case, EEOC v. Abercrombie
Dec 11: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the United States in EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. In the brief, ADC supports the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s position that employees have a legally protected right to practice their religion in the workplace by wearing articles of faith, including the Muslim hijab. The ADC is joined in this brief by other organizations supporting the right to religious accommodation, including KARAMAH (Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights), Cornell University Islamic Alliance for Justice (IAJ), and Penn State Muslim Students’ Association (MSA). In this case, Abercrombie refused to hire a Muslim woman who wore her hijab to her job interview. Abercrombie's district manager told the store manager that the woman's practice of wearing the hijab conflicted with Abercrombie's “look policy.” The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the woman must have expressly requested a religious accommodation in order for Abercrombie to be liable. However, the store manager who interviewed the Muslim woman for the position told her that she would be able to wear her hijab. Therefore, the Muslim woman was not even aware that her practice of wearing the hijab conflicted with Abercrombie's "look policy." The ADC is concerned that if the Tenth Circuit Court’s decision is affirmed, the law will effectively authorize employers to discriminate based on religion under the guise of “look policies" that effectively exclude Arabs and Muslims from employment. First, ADC argues that the Tenth Circuit’s decision undermines religious protections of the Civil Rights Act. Second, ADC argues that wearing the hijab is a religious practice of Islam. Third, ADC argues that the Abercrombie’s “Look Policy” is discriminatory. Lastly, ADC argues that permitting employees to wear hijab will not have a burden on Abercrombie’s business. [ADC]
New Castle NY Zoning Board Approves Mosque Special Permit
Dec 11: The New Castle Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved a special permit for the Upper Westchester Muslim Society's proposed mosque, the Chappaqua Daily Voice reported. The approval ends what has been an eight-year saga for the society's application before the board. It was submitted in 2006 and underwent a lengthy environmental review. The mosque, proposed to be around 25,000 square feet on a roughly eight-acre site, has drawn opposition from nearby residents. Their concerns have included traffic, the potential for septic failure and environment impact to nearby Still Lake. In October, Town Planner Sabrina Charney Hull discussed hydraulic connectivity and explained that the site is not connected to the lake.The society proposes to have 120 parking spaces on site, with room for 15 more if needed. It also proposes using off-site parking from multiple locations, along with shuttle busing, for two major religious holidays. [Chappaqua Daily Voice]
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