The Michigan chapter of Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), a chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomes the suspension of a Detroit Police Department (DPD) officer who allegedly used xenophobic language of “Go back to Mexico” toward an Arab-American at a recent protest in Detroit.
On Sunday, May 19, as peaceful protestors assembled outside of Huntington Place in Downtown Detroit to protest President Biden for his administration’s complicity in Israeli war crimes against Gazan civilians, a DPD officer told an Arab-American protestor of Palestinian heritage to “Go back to Mexico.” The protester recently returned from a family vacation in Mexico and believes that her social media was surveilled by the department.
The officer has since been suspended from the department as it investigates the xenophobic incident.
SEE: ‘Go back to Mexico’: Video captures racist remark from officer during Biden protest in Detroit (WDIV – Channel 4)
“We welcome the DPD’s swift suspension of the officer for his xenophobic comment and expect transparency once the department concludes its investigation,” said CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid. “Such xenophobic comments from a police officer in Detroit, which has a robust Mexican American community in Southwest Detroit, have no place in our city.”
Walid also calls DPD to have further discussions with CAIR-MI in regard to how the department polices such protests including appropriate cultural sensitivity when dealing with the American Muslim and Arab American communities in Detroit. Furthermore, he voices CAIR-MI’s continued concerns about DPD surveillance and data mining of protesters who assemble in Detroit in general in regard to their peace and lawful 1st Amendment protected activities.
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.
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CONTACT: CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid, 248-842-1418, dwalid@cair.com; CAIR-MI Staff Attorney Amy Doukoure, 586-943-8823, adoukoure@cair.com