The Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CT), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on law enforcement authorities to investigate the alleged harassment of a Muslim family in that state as a possible hate crime.
That family was reportedly harassed when shopping for groceries in Bethel, Connecticut, by a man who objected to the headscarf, or hijab, worn by the family’s mother. The man allegedly gave the mother the middle finger and told her to “go back where you came from.” He allegedly continued to make obscene gestures and hateful remarks as they walked into the store and also targeted a 10-year-old girl and “put the middle finger” in her face.
The family reported the hate incident to police, but they determined “that no hate crime (or any crime in general) had occurred.”
SEE: Bethel man says family faced hate-based anti-Muslim harassment at supermarket
In a statement, CAIR-CT chairman Farhan Memon, said:
“No family of any faith or ethnicity should be targeted by allegedly hate-motivated harassment while going about their daily lives. We call on local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate this troubling incident as a possible hate crime and to bring the alleged perpetrator to justice.”
He noted that in Connecticut, hate crimes include acts that are committed maliciously and with the intent to intimidate or harass a person because of that person’s perceived or actual race, religion, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.
Between January to June 2024, CAIR documented 4,951 incoming bias complaints nationwide, a 69 percent increase over the same period in 2023.
Last year, CAIR’s national office released its 2024 civil rights report, which revealed the highest number of complaints it has ever received in its 30-year history. Titled “Fatal: The Resurgence of Anti-Muslim Hate,” the report documented 8,061 complaints. Nearly half of all complaints received in 2023 were reported in the final three months of the year.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: For more information contact Chairman, Farhan Memon (fmemon@cair.com) or 203-517-6526; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com