A Muslim woman and a Muslim advocacy group Wednesday called on the city of Ferndale to address allegations that police removed the woman’s Islamic headscarf to take a booking photo.
Amy Doukoure, staff attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Michigan Chapter, which is representing the woman, said the group is filing a notice of claim against the city.
“We’re imploring the city of Ferndale … to take our claim seriously and open channels of dialogue with us so we can ensure Muslim women who find themselves engaged with police officers in the boundaries of the city are sure to have their constitutional rights in place,” she said.
Doukoure said if city officials don’t act, the group will sue.
She made the remarks during a Wednesday news conference at the offices of the advocacy group’s offices in Canton. She was joined by Dawud Walid, the group’s executive director, and Helena Bowe, the woman who made the claim against the Ferndale police.
“We’re appealing to the city of Ferndale to answer this claim, so we can make things right without going through litigation,” Walid said.
He said the group’s position is to not file lawsuits frivolously against police departments.
“We, as an organization, are not anti-police,” Walid said. “We’re pro-police-accountability.”
A city spokeswoman could not be reached immediately for comment.
Bowe, who is African American, said she now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder due to the June 21 encounter with police. Bowe is also founder and CEO of Miss Muslimah USA, a national pageant for Muslim women.
“This whole thing has left me traumatized and feeling numb and detached,” she said as she spoke at the news conference, choking back sobs at one point. “Even though it’s over, I still see myself going through it over and over again.”
Bowe was traveling on Eight Mile through the city of Detroit when she was stopped by Ferndale officers, Doukoure said. Officers told Bowe she had an expired license plate tab, according to the lawyer. She said Bowe’s tab was not expired and she produced valid registration and insurance for the officers.
Police asked Bowe if she had any weapons on her and she told them she had an electric stun gun in her purse, according to Doukoure. Police arrested Bowe because she had the weapon, she said.
It’s not clear if Bowe had a concealed carry permit. In Michigan, a civilian who carries a stun gun must have a valid license to carry a concealed pistol.
As she was being processed by police, a male officer told Bowe she had to remove her headscarf, or hijab, and take a booking photo if she wanted to be released, Doukoure said.
Bowe initially said she couldn’t because of her religious beliefs, but acquiesced when a female officer offered to take the picture, Doukoure said. However, a male officer watched the photo being taken through a window.
“The traffic stop and the search of her purse are both problematic because Ferndale officers don’t police the city of Detroit,” the attorney said. “But even if her arrest was valid, it doesn’t negate the civil and constitutional rights she carries with her. You don’t lose your rights to religion just because you’ve been arrested.”
CAIR-Michigan has represented women in two similar cases in Metro Detroit. In one of the cases, a 36-year-old woman sued the city of Detroit and the Michigan Department of Corrections in federal court, alleging she was forced to remove her hijab while a a booking photo was taken in 2019 at the Detroit Detention Center.
Doukoure said judges have ruled in favor of Muslim women in both cases. She also said a major concern for Muslim women who have their booking photo taken without hijabs is the pictures are available to the public indefinitely.
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What exactly would US judges have been ruling in favor of for the Muslim women in the 2 previous cases or in this case?
Face covering for Muslim women is strictly a personal choice in USA & cannot be used as excuse to conceal facial identity as required for govt / law enforcement purposes.
To legally drive this woman must have had photo ID license. If she was illegally arrested then she may have a case against the PD whereby she can have booking photo removed from govt records & prohibited from being distributed anywhere under penalty of law.
But she has no more right to use hijab / burqua to hide her facial / body type identity than does someone wearing a white KKK type hood & robe to conceal their face / body type from govt or law enforcement officials.
ALL forms of Photo id, need an UNCOVERED Face, so the person checking the ID, can validate IT IS YOU…
Having a Hijab on, PREVENTS SOMEONE SEEING all your face.
if they do not like it well then GET OUT OF AMERICA go back to camel infested dirt hut in sharia law land.
Many devout, fundamentalist Muslims believe they are not required to comply with western secular law but only need to observe Islamic Sharia law. This creates a huge potential for claims of discrimination whenever these Muslims interact with law enforcement authorities. Liberal courts treat Muslims as an oppressed religious minority and nearly always rule in their favor. This problem will only get worse as more observant Muslims immigrate to the U.S. Once our Muslim population become large enough, we can expect to have Muslim-controlled “No-Go” zones like the ones in Europe and Sharia police patrolling these enclaves that are hostile to non-Muslim Americans. We must limit Muslim immigration to prevent this from happening.
Limit it? IMO WE NEED TO ELIMINATE ALL ISLAMIC MIGRATION to this nation, and EXPELL Those already here..
IF THEY ARE unwilling to assimilate to OUR culture, and follow OUR LAWS< then get the hell out of OUR NATION!
“Bowe, who is African American, said she now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder due to the June 21 encounter with police”. Yep Bowe, you suffer from PSD because you are a lawbreaker! How is that for your PSD?
I am at the end of my rope with al the “rights” abusers. Trans rights, gay rights, women’s rights, black rights, or muslim rights, etc. You are in America and we are all the same when we get arrested. If you don’t want to conform to the laws, find you a country that has the ones you like. This humanoid wants “special rights”as do Every one of the groups above mentioned. Any judge who gives any of them favor, should be tossed off the bench forever. The PTSD **** is laughable. It is a fabrication of the snowflake mentality pervading the left and a slap against those who have real PTSD disorders from valid events. So what is next ? A thief wearing a ski mask can refuse to remove it to be identified because he believes that God lives in a noodle box ????
We have allowed all of this to happen over time – the invasion of America. The liberal mind set is a cancer – (as the philosopher barry soto odumma once stated) – “the fundamental transformation of America”. And now the globalist puppet masters finger the strings of joe biteme, kamalama hashish, nanski pelosiotrov, & the other demons that infect our nation.
America will never again be what it once was because of the cancerous damage, but it can still be great again, just need a 2022 mid term to stop the fatal bleeding and someone with the ballz to lead taking over in 2024. That is the only answer that will Trump these special rights.
Not all Muslim women wear the. hijab . So it’s a Choice. If I went to a.Muslim country, I would be required to obey their laws. If we retake the Senate, then we should outlaw the hijab. France outlawed it. Hopefully the gop will be as smart and outlaw the hijab
IF i had my way, i’d OUTLAW ISLAM in this nation.. STARTING by bulldozing down EVERY DAMN MOSQUE out there.