The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed a guilty plea entered in connection with a racist road rage incident in Urbandale, Iowa, and renewed its call for stronger action to address bias-motivated harassment.
According to local reports, an Iowa man pleaded guilty to third-degree harassment after allegedly directing a racial ‘N-word” slur at a mother and her children and then following the family to a public park, where he continued the verbal abuse. As part of the case, a no-contact order has been issued prohibiting the defendant from contacting the victim for five years.
In a statement, Washington, D.C., based CAIR said:
“While we welcome this guilty plea as a measure of accountability, the disturbing nature of this incident underscores the persistence of racially-motivated harassment in our communities. No family should be subjected to hate-filled intimidation while going about their daily lives. We urge community leaders, law enforcement, and policymakers to take proactive steps to address and prevent such acts.”
Last month, CAIR condemned the reported racist harassment in Urbandale, Iowa, in which a man allegedly drove around a woman and her young children repeatedly yelling a racial slur.
CAIR also condemned a series of incidents of racist, neo-Nazi vandalism in that state.
Last year, CAIR condemned a reported demonstration by a white supremacist neo-Nazi group, Aryan Freedom Network, in Marion, Iowa.
Also last year, CAIR condemned a march by the white supremacist group Patriot Front in Des Moines, Iowa.
Washington, D.C., based CAIR and the American Muslim community stand in solidarity with all those challenging antisemitism, systemic anti-Black racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, white supremacy, and all other forms of bigotry.
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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