MoCo County Executive Convenes Meeting of County's Politicians, Police, and Muslim Leaders

 “"Your safety is our concern."”
 
This was the message to the Muslim community from Montgomery County Council President Dr Nancy Floreen at a December 16, 2015 meeting with county officials and leaders of the Muslim community.
 
Police chiefs from every station in Montgomery County were in attendance, as well as Imams from ten masajid in the county.  There have been at least close to 50 violent attacks, threats, assaults, protests, and instances of vandalism against Muslims in America since the Paris attacks, including plots to bomb Muslims in Northern California and Virginia.
 
Dr Floreen was adamant in her support of the Muslim community and assured them that they were a priority. She called the recent rhetoric against Muslims by politicians on national stage ‘a demonic attack on American liberty’.
 
Imam Faizul Khan hosted the urgent meeting initiated by the County executive Isaiah Leggett at the Islamic Society of Washington Area in Silver Spring, Md. because of “violence in the world today, Islamophobia and its impact on our children.”
 
“I share your outrage,” stated Imam Faizul Khan in response to the statements made by elected officials. “Never should one be disparaged, profiled, or have their rights infringed upon because of their religious beliefs,’ he added.  He referred to the many people in his congregation who have escaped repressive regimes to find safety in the United States.  He expressed deep disappointment and disgust at the call for a ban on Muslims coming to the United States and the motions across the country to refuse Syrian refugees from settling in the country. “May our country be a beacon of hope and not fear,” he said.
 
Rev. Mansfield Kaseman, Interfaith Liaison with the County's Office of Community Partnerships, moderated the session and shared letters of support from other faith communities.
 
The Police Chief of Montgomery County, J. Thomas Manger, spoke at the session and introduced all the division chiefs to the community leaders.
 
“They are here to know what the community is concerned about,” he said. “We are here to protect everyone in the community … please spread the word that if anyone is the victim or a crime, or are concerned about their safety, they should contact the police.”
 
The former mayor of Gaithersburg, Councilman Sydney Katz, called the Muslim community “his family.” The councilman from Takoma Park  informed the audience that Takoma Park City Council also reaffirmed the City of Takoma Park’s status as a sanctuary city and its commitment to remain a place of support for refugees from around the world. “We are all in this together,” he said.
 
Member-at-large George Leventhal, said that Muslims are welcome and safe in the county.
 
The Montgomery County Council has also sent the Governor a letter disagreeing with his statement on refugees. Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett reminded the attendees that all nine County Council members told the federal government they will welcome Syrian refugees into the county and that they were “disheartened that many governors have expressed opposition to having Syrian refugees make new homes in their states.” He read statements of support from Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Sen Ben Cardin and from Sen Barbara Maluski. Sen Mikulski’s representative was a part of the session.
 
The council also heard from Muslim community leaders. Many expressed satisfaction with the treatment of Muslims by County Officials. Others brought up some key issues facing Muslim residents, including safety during Friday prayers, hate incidents and fear of police preventing Muslims from reporting hate crimes.
 
The police chiefs said that the public should not be afraid of reporting hate crime as the police would not ask questions about immigration status, deportation, etc.
 
“My wife wears hijab and she was verbally assaulted as she was driving,” shared a community leader.  He asked the council if data was collected on the hate incidents. He also shared that his wife was stopped by a police officer and was questioned whether she was carrying any weapons and wondered whether this was normal for traffic stops.  He also asked what the county was doing to educate people about their rights.
 
Lawyers and activists were taken back to hear about the lack of knowledge the Muslim community has about their rights.  Without the key factor of “probable cause” that a traffic violation has occurred, police to stop a vehicle is an invalid exercise of police authority and clearly falls into the area of an unlawful detention. According to the Supreme Court rulings, to question pedestrians or drivers during traffic-related stops, police must have a good, specific reason that leads them to believe they might pose a danger, so it is not normal for police to ask if you are carrying a weapon if they stop you for speeding.
 
 
Mona Negm, who sits on the Montgomery County Human Rights Commission, shared suggestions such as the need for cultural sensitivity training for the school system, police, and judges and mental health resources. “There is a lot of misinformation on Islam and our community is feeling marginalized,” she said. She suggested imams could develop a joint statement on Islam for the county. Sameera Hussein suggested more diversity education of schoolteachers. The President of the Human Rights Commission informed the leaders that there is an executive at MCPCS whose job it is to respond to parental concerns about bullying and hate incidents.
 
ISWA President Zamal Housein was pragmatic about bigotry and that Muslim communities need to learn how to deal with it. He noted the strained relationship with the police department but urged community leaders to come up to the challenge and let government officials and police force know what is happening in their communities.
 
Another topic that was brought up was the pressure that Muslim communities feel when asked to spy on their own community and report suspicious activity. Muslim communities have been crucial in helping law enforcement find terror suspects in the United States but youth and imams feel the intense pressure to police their own unlike members of any other group of people.
 
“We cannot ask our Muslim community to be super heroes and do more than what every other citizen is doing to make the country safe,” said County Executive Leggett.
 
He that what he found disturbing was that 43 percent of people have bought into the hate. “My task is that in Montgomery County that we reduce or eliminate that number all together,” he said.
 
After the discussions it was revealed that many do not know the definition of a hate crime and the community needs to be educated. One of the police chiefs also could not define a hate crime according to Maryland law.
 
The imams of the masajid did not contribute much to the conversation, giving others space to speak.
 
The council planned a more public expression of solidarity in the coming days.