Whitey Ford
04-08-2020, 09:09 PM
Muslim woman says police forced her to remove her hijab
A Muslim woman alleges in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Wednesday that police in New York forced her to remove her hijab in August 2019 for a booking photo.
Ihsan Malkawi says in the lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York that she and her husband were arrested in Yonkers in Westchester County "on false allegations of abuse," which her attorney said were later concluded to be unfounded.
The lawsuit against the City of Yonkers states that on Aug. 25, 2019, the daughter of Ihsan and her husband tried to run away. The couple found her that evening and brought her home, where the three then argued about the daughter's desire to return to Michigan, where the family previously lived.
The next day, unbeknownst to her parents who were out registering their children for school, the girl called 911 and falsely alleged that her mother and father had assaulted her with a belt and a curtain rod the previous night, the lawsuit states.
When the couple returned home, they were met by three Yonkers police officers who instructed them to go to the nearest precinct, according to the lawsuit. The couple agreed and drove to the precinct, where they were met by more officers and an investigator from New York Child Protective Services.
Officers questioned the husband and wife separately, and after Malkawi met with the investigator from the child welfare agency, she was arrested, handcuffed and taken to a booking cell, according to the lawsuit.
Malkawi alleges in the lawsuit that she was retrieved from her cell by a female officer who ordered her to remove her hijab for a booking photo, telling her, "You can't take a photo or go into a cell with this."
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/muslim-woman-sues-yonkers-new-york-says-police-forced-her-n1179291
A Muslim woman alleges in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Wednesday that police in New York forced her to remove her hijab in August 2019 for a booking photo.
Ihsan Malkawi says in the lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York that she and her husband were arrested in Yonkers in Westchester County "on false allegations of abuse," which her attorney said were later concluded to be unfounded.
The lawsuit against the City of Yonkers states that on Aug. 25, 2019, the daughter of Ihsan and her husband tried to run away. The couple found her that evening and brought her home, where the three then argued about the daughter's desire to return to Michigan, where the family previously lived.
The next day, unbeknownst to her parents who were out registering their children for school, the girl called 911 and falsely alleged that her mother and father had assaulted her with a belt and a curtain rod the previous night, the lawsuit states.
When the couple returned home, they were met by three Yonkers police officers who instructed them to go to the nearest precinct, according to the lawsuit. The couple agreed and drove to the precinct, where they were met by more officers and an investigator from New York Child Protective Services.
Officers questioned the husband and wife separately, and after Malkawi met with the investigator from the child welfare agency, she was arrested, handcuffed and taken to a booking cell, according to the lawsuit.
Malkawi alleges in the lawsuit that she was retrieved from her cell by a female officer who ordered her to remove her hijab for a booking photo, telling her, "You can't take a photo or go into a cell with this."
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/muslim-woman-sues-yonkers-new-york-says-police-forced-her-n1179291