As Local Hate Incidents Increase, Muslims Meet with Elected Officials, Police Over Safety Concerns

Naima*, a research assistant at the University of Maryland and a mother of five of wear the niqab, was walking her youngest to school in College Park. The two were verbally assaulted by an angry ‘white,tall and heavily built’ neighbor walking his ‘large, black’ dog. Terrified, they felt intimidated by the barking dog and hateful words coming from him. “I didn’t know if he would let his dog loose on us,” she said, still shaken from the experience. The man she and “her God” were responsible for the San Bernardino shootings.
 
Her supervisors at UMD urged her to report the encounter to the police. Reporting is vital as a record must be maintain just in case there was another confrontation. After waiting the entire work day, the police did not come to take her statement. She kept calling until finally someone took her statement over the phone. “There is freedom of speech,” said the officer who took her report. 
 
Nightmares about a dog attack have followed her preschooler. Naima is scared to walk her daughter to school. People have advised her take her niqab off. Some of her Muslim neighbors who used to cover have taken it off. 
 
The Prince George’s County School District was extremely helpful and encouraged her not to walk her daughter to school until the school could provide safe transportation from her house to the Elementary School. 
 
Naima's story is important because verbal assaults are becoming a common occurrence for local Muslims. The normalization of the verbal attacks make many Muslims reluctant to report the incidents. Naima's perseverance in reporting the incident and asking for county resources helped her family function. 
 
Actively reporting a hate incident to the authorities leaves an official record that can help prove a hate crime should it occur. Many people do not know the definition of a hate crime and the difference between a hate incident and free speech. 
 
A family in Germantown found their car keyed in the neighborhood they've lived in for 22 years. A young man was punched at work. A customer yells obscenities and makes references to ISIS as a graduate student fills gas at a local gas station. Incidents such as these should be reported according to Montgomery County Police Officer Sharif Hidayat at recent town hall held at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Maryland.
 
The Montgomery County Office of Human Rights Committee on Hate and Violence called the special meeting because they were hearing about hate incidents on social media but were not seeing reports being filed. 
 
“I really feel so grateful to you for allowing us to have our meeting here and for opening your community home to us,” Committee Chair Lorraine Lee-Stepney told Muslims.
 
A police representative read county hate incident reports for the month and the community was surprised that no hate incidents concerning Muslims had been reported. The report included vandalism incidents as well as seemingly mundane incidents like a hate message left on an Instagram account.
 
“If there’s an incident … you feel is hate generated or someone is making a slur, it may not be a crime but it’s a serious incident and you should report that as well,” said committee member Terry Vann.
 
A packed hall with standing room only, three television stations and two radio stations witnessed a community full of concerns, hungry for information.
 
“What can you tell us – especially elderly immigrants and young children –  on what we can do in the 15 seconds after an incident has occurred,” asked a law student. Officer Sharif said that we have to work hand in hand with law enforcement. “Montgomery County wants to hear from you so we can set the policy and [programming],” he said. “We have an open door policy at our police station,” he added.
 
Middle schooler Jawad M., summed up the Muslim community’s feelings in his impassioned testimony about harassment and abuse at his public school and the lack of response from authorities. “Teachers and administrators don’t care. I have been called ISIS, bomber, terrorist, but the teachers don't do anything. My Muslim community helps me.”
 
Zahirah Eppard, the principal of the MCC weekend school, presented statistics from a school survey on bullying and other incidents that will help the commission make its recommendations to the county. 73 percent feel safe in school. 29 percent of the children were not comfortable with letting their class mates know that they were Muslim. 48 percent of the students agreed that their schools were responsive to their religious needs.
 
“I don’t have that relationship of complete dependence and trust with the police,” Hiba Akhtar, a graduate student, said. “I think the police need to step up…and really let us know that we are taken care of, we are kind of a special entity right now, special community right now,” she said. Concerns about surveillance and mental health resources was brought up several times by community members. 
 
The Justice Department notes that two out of every three hate crimes are not reported because victims believe that police cannot or will not help. “This is especially true for Muslims, who have been targets of massive surveillance, deportation, questioning and other harassment by local and federal law enforcement during the past 14 years. That excessive scrutiny has eroded the trust necessary for victims to report hate crimes,” said Farhana Khera of Muslim Advocates.