A young woman was threatened by a DC Library Officer for wearing a hijab at Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Library. Timothy Craggette is a former DC police officer who now works for the cityís library system.
Fifty people gathered for a protest on March 25, 2016, dressed in hoodies and hijabs two days after the incident under the leadership of Darakshan Raja, a D.C. based activist.
ìToday we showed up and reclaimed space. The very library where a Muslim woman was kicked out is where we read our demands which allowed for people to understand why this isn't an isolated incident. We brought signs and handcuffs with us,î said Raja.
Jessica Raven, Executive Director of Collective Action for Safe Spaces, witnessed Craggette at Shaw Library harass and intimidate a woman, threatening her with handcuffs for refusal to remove the hijab. The officer then told the woman to either remove the hijab or leave the library.
ìIt was very clear that she was wearing [a] hijab,î Raven said, according to The Huffington Post. ìAll I heard was he started asking her to take off her hijab. My jaw dropped,î she said. ìThe man next to her spoke up, but the officer continued to harass her. Ultimately, he came towards her in an intimidating way, pulled out his handcuffs and said if she didnít want to take off [the hijab], she had to leave.î At least two other library patrons also witnessed the harassment. Craggette acknowledged that he took out handcuffs and told the woman that if she didnít remove it, she would have to leave, which she did. She has not come forward since the incident.
ìThe woman did not want to make a report or share her identity at that moment. Therefore, as advocates we are requesting the DC Public Library and other institutions to respect the choice of the individual, and if they decide to come forward in the future, it should be their choice. The onus is not on individuals who experience harassment to report it; it is the responsibility of the DC Public Library to prevent harassment and discrimination by developing proactive solutions to make the library system safe for everyone,î read a statement by the Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS), Muslim American Womenís Policy Forum (MAWPF) and Many Languages One Voice (MLOV).
The coalition offered recommendations to address this problem, which included: developing a public awareness campaign to demonstrate that the DC Public Library is a safe and welcoming space for people of all races, ethnicities, religions, and genders; and to intervene and convene a joint DC government Listening Session that invites Muslim communities, which includes all various ethnicities and racial groups to discuss ways they experience discrimination, bias, racism, and Islamophobia in the District.
CAIR National contacted DC Public Library officials about the reported incident and received an apology from the executive director of the library, along with assurance that people of all faiths and backgrounds are welcome in local libraries. ìWe thank the DC Public Library for its swift and appropriate handling of this incident and for restating its policy of inclusion for all District residents,î said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. However, local activists want constructive action.
The executive director of DC Public Library system Richard Reyes-Gavil·nt called it an isolated incident. "We're doing everything that we possibly can in order to address the situation and make people understand that the library is a place of inclusion," he told NBC news. "Certainly what happened yesterday is an isolated incident that we regret strongly."
ìWe assert that this is not an isolated incident; it occurred in the context of growing Islamophobia in the District. DCPL and other public institutions must take proactive measures to address harassment and discrimination against Muslims by developing a public awareness campaign, training DCPL staff on institutional racism and Islamophobia, and implementing a system to report staff abuses,î say activists.
Craggette was placed on an administrative leave after the incident but is back to work; he will be on the night shift where he will not be interacting with library patrons. He was dismissed from the D.C. police force in 1990 for destroying a citizenís property but was later rehired, reported WUSA9.
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