MEDIA ADVISORY –

CAIR: Wash. State Muslims Targeted in Hate Attack
Assailant shouted racial, religious slurs during attack at gas station

(SEATTLE, WA, 10/20/10) –- On Thursday, October 21, the Washington State chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA) will hold a news conference inSeattle with two Muslim women who were allegedly attacked at a gas station by an assailant shouting racial and religious slurs.

At the news conference, CAIR-WA will call for local, state and federal hate crime charges to be brought against the alleged attacker.

CAIR-WA says it has contacted the FBI about the Saturday afternoon incident in which the two Muslim women of Somali heritage were allegedly verbally and physically assaulted by a white female at an ARCO gas station in Tukwila, Wash. One of the women reported being called a "terrorist" and a "suicide bomber," and was allegedly told to "go back to [her] f**king country."

The women say they were kicked and punched by the attacker, who reportedly tried to run over one of them with her car. The alleged perpetrator was arrested at the scene and charged with malicious harassment. She was later released on bail. (Tukwila Police Department incident report 10-7002)

WHAT: CAIR-WA News Conference with Muslim Women Attacked at Gas Station
WHEN: October 21, 2010, 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: CAIR-WA’s Office, 671 South Jackson Street, 2nd Floor, Seattle, WA
CONTACT: CAIR-WA Executive Director Arsalan Bukhari, 206-367-4081, E-Mail:abukhari@cair.com
NOTE TO MEDIA: The women do not wish to have their faces shown or their last names published in the media for fear of retaliation.

"This troubling incident fits a pattern of increased targeting of American Muslims and their religious institutions following the recent spike in anti-Islam rhetoric in our society," saidCAIR-WA Civil Rights Coordinator Jennifer Gist. "Bias-motivated attacks must not be tolerated and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

SEE: FBI Meets with Members of S.C. Mosque Defaced with Pork

She said CAIR's national office recently announced the launch of a department devoted to addressing the alarming rise of Islamophobic sentiment in American society.

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

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