Monday, June 8, 2026
ADVT 
International

Hijab-Clad 'Hero' Muslim Cop Called 'ISIS', Harassed In US

IANS, 05 Dec, 2016 01:33 PM
    An off-duty hijab-clad Muslim police officer was called "ISIS" and told to go back to her "country" by a white man who also pushed her 16-year-old son, the latest in a series of incidents in which headscarf-wearing women have been targeted in the US following Donald Trump's win.
     
    Officer Aml Elsokary, who was off duty and wearing her hijab, dropped off her son in Brooklyn. After parking her car, she returned to the scene to find her son being shoved by the suspect, a white man in his 30s.
     
    When the officer -- a native New Yorker -- approached, the man said, "ISIS (expletive), I will cut your throat, go back to your country!"
     
    Elsokary did not identify herself as a police officer, and was unarmed, the New York Daily News reported, citing police sources.
     
    The suspect then fled the scene. Police were trying to track him down.
     
    The NYPD Hate Crimes Unit is probing the episode as a bias incident which took place on Saturday.
     
    Officer Elsokary -- who proudly wears her hijab on duty -- was touted as a hero by the New York city mayor after she ran into a burning building to save an elderly man and baby girl in April 2014.
     
    Responding to a call about a fire over the police radio, Elsokary and her partner had rushed to a smoke-filled building.
     
    The decorated officer had joined the force shortly after the September 11 terror attacks to "show people that the terrible acts of that day contradicted the teachings of Islam," Mayor de Blasio had said at a 2014 dinner.
     
    The mother-of-five had received a medal for her bravery.
     
    Saturday's incident comes amid a slew of intimidation and assault cases that have been reported across the country against hijab-clad women following Trump's win.
     
    On Thursday, a Muslim student was allegedly assaulted aboard a subway train by three drunk white men who repeatedly screamed "Donald Trump!" and hurled anti-Islam slurs before trying to rip her hijab off.
     
    Earlier this month, a Hijab-clad Muslim student was allegedly struck in the face with a glass bottle in broad daylight at the University of Washington campus in Seattle.
     
    In another incident, a hijab-clad woman was allegedly accosted at a US store by another customer who called her a "terrorist" and told her to "get out" of the country.
     
    Also, a Muslim student's hijab was allegedly ripped off and her hair pulled down by a classmate at a school in Minnesota.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Nikki Haley Caught In Donald Trump's Crosshairs

    Nikki Haley Caught In Donald Trump's Crosshairs
    Nikki Haley's call to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump to tamp down on his anti-immigrant rhetoric won praise from Republicans and Democrats alike, but the real estate mogul was not amused. 

    Nikki Haley Caught In Donald Trump's Crosshairs

    India-Born Businessman Hanu Karlapalem Runs For Mayor Of Alabama Town

    India-Born Businessman Hanu Karlapalem Runs For Mayor Of Alabama Town
    India-born businessman Hanu Karlapalem, is running to become the mayor of one of Alabama's fastest growing cities, a media report said.

    India-Born Businessman Hanu Karlapalem Runs For Mayor Of Alabama Town

    Indian-Origin PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi Becomes Yale's Biggest Alumni Donor

    Indian-Origin PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi Becomes Yale's Biggest Alumni Donor
    Chennai-born Nooyi, 60, who graduated from the school in 1980, has made the gift to also inaugurate the Fifth Decade Innovation Fund, the school announced.

    Indian-Origin PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi Becomes Yale's Biggest Alumni Donor

    Four Canadian Women From Quebec Charged In U.S. 'Grandparent Scam'

    Four Canadian Women From Quebec Charged In U.S. 'Grandparent Scam'
    According to police, the scammers out of Laval, Que., would contact a senior by phone or email and identify themselves as the person's grandchild.

    Four Canadian Women From Quebec Charged In U.S. 'Grandparent Scam'

    Missing Since Three Years, Mumbai Techie Hamid N. Ansari Is Alive In Pakistan

    Missing Since Three Years, Mumbai Techie Hamid N. Ansari Is Alive In Pakistan
    Hamid N. Ansari, a techie from Mumbai who went missing in Pakistan on November 10, 2012, is reported to be alive and in custody of the Pakistan Army, an activists' group said here on Thursday.

    Missing Since Three Years, Mumbai Techie Hamid N. Ansari Is Alive In Pakistan

    Canadian Among Those Killed In Jakarta Terror Attacks

    Canadian Among Those Killed In Jakarta Terror Attacks
    All five gunmen were killed and twenty people were wounded in the attacks, police said.

    Canadian Among Those Killed In Jakarta Terror Attacks