The San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed hate crime charges filed by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office against a man accused of assaulting an Indian woman and her children at a Fremont McDonald’s earlier this month.
According to police and prosecutors, the suspect, Marcus Harper, approached the family while they were dining, took their food, and began eating it in front of them. He allegedly returned to slap the woman across the face, hurled racial slurs including “You Indians need to go back to your country,” and threw a dipping sauce packet at her 9-year-old daughter. Harper was arrested on Tuesday and faces battery, a civil rights violation, and a hate crime enhancement.
In a statement, CAIR-SFBA Executive Director Zahra Billoo said:
“We commend the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for taking this attack seriously and filing hate crime charges. Families in our community deserve to live and worship, eat and walk freely—without fear of being harassed or assaulted because of their identity. Prosecuting this as a hate crime sends a message that such bigotry and violence have no place here.”
CAIR-SFBA encourages anyone who has experienced an act of hate, discrimination, or harassment to contact its Civil Rights Department at 408.986.9874 or visit: https://ca.cair.com/sfba/report-hate-discrimination/
CAIR-SFBA is an office of CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR-SFBA Communications Manager Lorrie Adam, ladam@cair.com, 408.498.5779