Attack was hate crime, Muslim groups say
Man grabbed woman’s head scarf, beat her ‘like an animal’
National and local Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups are calling for Milwaukee police to investigate as a hate crime an attack on a Muslim woman who says a man demanded she remove her hijab and beat her.
“You can’t get a clearer hate crime than this,” said Janan Najeeb, president of the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition.
“This was not a robbery,” Najeeb said Wednesday. “There was an individual telling her to take her scarf off, ripped it off and started beating her up. This is clearly a hate crime.”
The woman, who has not been publicly identified, was walking home from her morning prayers at the Islamic Society of Milwaukee about 6 a.m. Monday.
A car pulled up alongside her on S. 13th St. near W. Layton Ave. and a man got out, demanding she take off her hijab, or head scarf, said Munjed Ahmad, a member of the society’s executive committee who has met with the woman several times since the attack.
The woman tried to pull the scarf tight to keep it on and “he threw me on the floor, then he beat me like an animal,” the woman told WITI-TV (Channel 6) as she showed her bloodstained head scarf.
The man pulled her to the ground where he stomped on her head before he drew a knife and slashed at her clothing, Ahmad said.
The woman has a history of seizures and suffered one later that day, Ahmad said.
She was taken to a hospital for treatment and released Tuesday.
“She’s of course very shaken and also tired,” Najeeb said.
Milwaukee police did not say they were investigating this as a hate crime. In a statement, the department said officers responded to a battery in the 4800 block of S. 13th St. about 11:30 a.m. Monday.
A woman told police she was “struck by an unknown suspect” several hours earlier near 13th St. and Layton Ave. and police continue to search for the male suspect, according to police.
On Wednesday, the national Council on American-Islamic Relations said the attack should be investigated as a hate crime. The statement came less than a week after the organization called for a hate crime investigation of Muslim prayer space vandalism at Marquette University.
“There were no valuables taken, none requested,” Ahmad said. “He immediately lunged at her head scarf. Given the totality of the circumstances, it does look like this is a hate crime and that’s how we’re approaching it.”
He urged anyone with information to come forward and talk to police.
“An act of this nature, as brutal as it was, it has to be addressed and this individual needs to be brought to justice to serve not only as a punishment but also as a deterrent,” Ahmad said.
The Islamic Society of Milwaukee has a good relationship with the surrounding neighborhood and as news of the attack has spread, many people have come forward offering to escort worshippers and provide other support, he said.
Still, the violent and brazen nature of the most recent incident has shaken the Muslim community in Milwaukee, Najeeb said.
“We’ve always had acts of vandalism, had people yell things from the car, had individuals try to snatch scarves off Muslim girls or women, but this is definitely a whole other category,” she said.
The Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition is urging members and those who work with them to take extra precautions, such as traveling in groups and walking in well-lighted areas.
Najeeb said most people who have the biggest issue with women wearing hijab are “frankly ignorant.”
“It’s a reflection of faith,” she said. “We believe modesty is part of faith. We see it in different forms, from Amish and Mennonite women to Catholic nuns and Orthodox Jewish women.”
But those who are targeted for covering their hair are nearly always Muslim, Najeeb said.
“This represents a woman that is Muslim and in (an attacker’s) head, they hate Muslims and this is what they have been told from the highest levels of power,” she said.
“Without a doubt, I believe that current political rhetoric has definitely normalized hate in this country and there needs to be some accountability.”