Men Charged with Hate Crime for Harassing Muslims at Maryland Wedding
“These developments are the first step toward justice and accountability for the victims,” said the Council on Islamic-American Relations Maryland Director Zainab Chaudry.
“As reports of anti-Palestinian hate and Islamophobia continue to soar, our hope is that prosecuting these crimes to the fullest extent of the law will serve as a deterrent for future incidents,” she said, according to the advocacy group's website.
“We are relieved to learn that these men are facing hate crime and assault charges,” said a parent of the bride in a statement to CAIR. “This kind of aggression and violence has no place in our society and must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We thank the U.S. attorney’s office for correctly assessing what we all saw that night as clear hate crimes. They verbally and physically assaulted our guests, and their actions must have appropriate consequences.”
“I welcome the news that my assailant will receive the hate crime enhancement in his charges,” said the victim who was reportedly choked, in a statement to CAIR. “The US attorney appears to be handling this serious incident with the urgency and diligence it warrants. I am looking forward to justice being served and am more than ready to testify in court.”
How the harassment unfolded
On June 22, a Maryland Muslim family held the wedding of their daughter at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. CAIR was told that around 11:30 p.m., as two guests wearing keffiyehs left the wedding and exited the hotel, two white male individuals walked past them towards the hotel entrance. One of the males reportedly brushed against the shoulder of one of the guests and yelled “F*** Palestine.” One of the two guests reportedly responded verbally: “I don’t think my cousins in Gaza would be happy to hear that.” CAIR was told that the two suspects allegedly responded with more vulgar, anti-Palestinian comments including “wishing death upon Gazans.”
CAIR was told that four African-American women then intervened to help de-escalate the situation. Despite their efforts, the two males reportedly started walking towards the guests. One of the guests, telling CAIR he was concerned for the women’s safety, offered: “If you want to talk, let’s talk about it.”
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At that point, one of the males allegedly wrapped his hands around one of the guests’ neck and began choking him. The guest reportedly dislocated his thumb trying to extricate himself from the alleged attacker’s choking maneuver, who proceeded to reportedly punch the guest in the face resulting in a black eye.
As the guests tried to get to safety, one of the alleged attackers reportedly shouted, “NYPD motherf****.” The guest was reportedly punched a second time as one of the male suspects reportedly demanded, “Give me that f****** keffiyeh.” As the two guests tried to get to safety, a passerby driving past them reportedly screamed, “Leave them alone!” to which one of the male suspects reportedly replied, “I’m going to f***** bash your window.”
Both male suspects were taken into police custody at the hotel.
Source: CAIR
