CHICAGO: The latest in a series of assaults and threats reported in the US following Donald Trump's win, a Muslim student's hijab was allegedly ripped off and her hair pulled down by a classmate at a school in Minnesota. The incident that took place at Northdale Middle School in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, prompted Anoka-Hennepin School District to launch an investigation into what is being called an assault, by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
CAIR's Minnesota branch released a statement following the attack, expressing concern over the school district's response to the incident. It alleged that the school district did not respond to the incident until the week after. "School officials must take immediate actions to ensure that all students, regardless of their faith or ethnicity, are provided a safe learning environment," CAIR-MN executive director Jaylani Hussein said. He added, "It should not take days to respond to an apparently bias-motivated assault on a student." The district soon confirmed the incident and is working to find out where the breakdown of communication between the parent and the school took place. District spokesman Jim Skelly said officials have reached out to CAIR.
The district released a statement saying the CAIR's description of the incident is "inconsistent with the district's understanding." "The preliminary findings of the investigation indicate that this was isolated and not motivated by bias. However, the concerns of the family reflect similar concerns around the metro and align with the need in our communities to find ways to talk about race and culture constructively and respectfully," the statement said. Following the election results, a slew of intimidation and assaults have been reported across the country against hijab-clad women.
Last week, a Muslim student of Michigan University was approached by an unidentified man who yelled at her and threatened to set her on fire, if she did not remove her hijab, prompting the police to probe the hate crime incident.
