The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today urged community members join in demanding justice for a 15-year-old Muslim student at Ardrey Kell High School in Mecklenburg, North Carolina, who sustained severe injuries when she was brutally beaten by a male football player who she had previously accused of anti-Muslim bullying.
Remarkably, the local police department has announced that there is no evidence to support a hate crime charge even though police investigators never interviewed the victim. The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office has also so far refused to open its own hate crime investigation, deferring to the police department.
Meanwhile, Mecklenburg County Public School officials have refused to release footage of the attack that could undermine the school’s claim that the violence was just a “fight” between two students.
Together, these unacceptable decisions by county leadership have led to public confusion and hampered the family’s efforts to seek justice for their loved one. Join the Charlotte community, the family of the victim, and CAIR , in calling for:
- The Mecklenburg County District Attorney to appropriately assess the case for hate crime charges, including through an interview with the victim, and
- The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District released footage of the incident to the family, their attorney and, after any legally required redactions, the public.
TAKE ACTION NOW!
Message to Send to DA’s Office:
Dear Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office,
I stand with the Charlotte community and the 15-year-old female Muslim student who was brutally beaten and severely injured at school by a football player who had allegedly made anti-Muslim remarks about her in the past. After learning about the case, I am compelled to urge your office to immediately reassess the case for hate crime charges, which should include a thorough interview of the victim.
I presume you already know the facts of the case. However, the ones that stood out to me as a concerned citizen are reports that that the Muslim student told her school that the attacker made anti-Muslim comments in the days leading up to the attack, that the attacker brutalized her so severely that she required immediate surgery, and that she continues to struggle with long-lasting injuries even weeks after the attack.
Based on this alone, I struggle to understand why local authorities have not interviewed her to date or how the police could say there was no evidence to support a hate crime without interviewing her.
Because of these failures, I am concerned that the family has to jump through unnecessary hurdles to seek basic justice for this young woman. I am also concerned that should something so horrible happen to another young member of our community that local authorities might not do their due diligence in such cases.
No family should have to fight this hard for basic justice. No child should be ignored in the aftermath of such a violence. She should be concerned about healing from this attack, not wondering whether her town’s local leadership will take the appropriate steps toward justice. By standing with her and demanding change, I hope to see your office take steps that ensure this never happens again—to her or anyone else.
Sincerely
X
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | TikTok | Website | YouTube
Do you like reading CAIR press releases and taking part in our action alerts? You can help contribute to CAIR’s work of defending civil rights and empowering American Muslims across the country by making a one-time contribution or becoming a monthly donor. Supporters like you make CAIR’s advocacy work possible and defeating Islamophobia an achievable goal. Click here to donate to CAIR.
You are receiving this email due to your interest selection from commercial media databases. If you would like to join CAIR’s media list, please sign up here: https://action.cair.com/a/newsletters — For more information, email: info@cair.com, CC ihooper@cair.com
END
CONTACT: 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