Nov 13, 2009 8:37 pm US/Central
Tinley Park Woman Says She Was Hate-Crime Victim
Police Also Investigating Incident In Which Home Was Defaced With Derogatory Language
TINLEY PARK, Ill. (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
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Amal Abusumayah tells CBS 2 News she was the victim of a hate crime in Tinley Park, following the Fort Hood shootings.
CBS
Amal Abusumayah was paying for groceries when she felt a sharp tug on her headscarf. When she looked at who had pulled her hijab, she saw a woman who moments ago had made a derogatory comment about Islam.
"I was shaken up," Abusumayah told the SouthtownStar about the Nov. 7 assault. "This is my dignity and this is my religion."
Tinley Park police are investigating the battery as a hate crime, Chief Michael O'Connell said. And that's not the only one.
Another family woke up Nov. 8 to find derogatory terms written on their home in the 8800 block of 172nd Street.
Both crimes occurred just days after Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly shot and killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas.
Abusumayah said the woman who tugged her scarf said, "The guy that did the Texas shooting, he wasn't American and he was from the Middle East."
Abusumayah ignored the comment and continued shopping. She was checking out when the woman tried to pull off her scarf.
The stay-at-home mother of four young girls couldn't put up with that insult and abuse -- she followed the woman out of the store, called police and waited until they arrived.
She said she is going to press charge. "If I don't do this, in the future (violence) might escalate," said Abusumayah, 28.
O'Connell said that's exactly why people should report such crimes.
"If you don't try to stop it, the behavior will continue," he said. But if people are charged for their crimes, O'Connell said, "they'll get the message they better not do it."
A hate crime is a felony that carries a possible sentence of up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000, police said.
O'Connell said police are investigating both Tinley Park incidents, but no charges have been filed.
"The fact they're not reported doesn't mean it doesn't exist," said "I wonder about how many more are not reported?"
Ahmed Rehab of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said victims of these types of crimes end up questioning their place in the community.
"You feel unsafe and you feel betrayed," he said.
Rehab said his organization has reached out to the FBI to pursue federal charges.
And while Abusumayah now is more cautious, she's still making her daily trips to the Tinley Park Jewel grocery store where she was attacked.
"I'm a tough cookie," she said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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