Chichago: A fasting Muslim woman was tackled, strip search by several police officers when she was running to catch a train in Chicago on July 4 last year.
According to CBS Chicago, the victim Itemad “Angel” Almatar with a backpack full of food to break the Ramadan fast was running to climbed the stairs of the State/Lake station in the Loop when she overtaken by five Chicago police officers who kicked and ripped off her hijab, strip searched her in public and charged her with “reckless conduct and resisting arrest.”
And nearly one year after the violent encounter, a Cook County judge found the victim not guilty of these charges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHAOAsbW-pg
According to Itemad, “They threw me to the stairs, and grabbed my bags. They kicked me, hit me, took off my hijab,” she told CBS Chicago.
“They asked me why I put my food inside my bag, why I’m Muslim, why I’m fasting, why I’m wearing these clothes, why I cover my body,” Almatar says.
She was handcuffed, stripped naked in front of men despite the fact that she did not commit any illegal act.
“She was strip searched, videographed, and at the same time men were allowed to see her naked.” “This is the ultimate horror you can do to a Muslim woman,” said Imam Malick Mujahid, a Muslim community leader in Chicago.
Almatar claimed to be a victim of racial profiling and is planning to file a federal civil right lawsuit soon.