Pol: See if activist ignored grope
ASSEMBLYMAN Dov Hikind is calling for an investigation into allegations that Muslim activist and Women’s March organizer Linda Sarsour ignored sexual abuse complaints at her Brooklyn office.
Asmi Fathelbab, 37, said she was sexually harassed and groped in 2009 by a man who lived in the same building as the Arab American Association of New York. But Sarsour dismissed her complaints and “bodyshamed” her, Fathelbab claimed at a press conference Thursday at Hikind’s Borough Park office.
“She pushed it under the rug because that was her philosophy,” she said.
Fathelbab also claimed an officer from the 68th Precinct visited her at the office and threatened her with arrest if she was filing a false report.
“He came and put his cuffs on my desk, locked the door and told me, “You can get arrested for saying false things,’” she said.
The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sarsour called the allegations baseless, and said her association immediately investigated Fathelbab’s claims. “It’s unfortunate that people are politicizing a very serious national campaign to empower women to speak up,” she told the Daily News.
Hikind, who is Jewish and a longtime critic of Sarsour over their different visions for Israel, demanded a probe.