click to enlarge The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic RelationsA Spirit Airlines passenger is accused of assaulting a Muslim woman on a flight to Detroit. A Roseville woman accused of assaulting a Black Muslim passenger aboard a Spirit Airlines flight to Detroit over the weekend was charged with a hate crime Friday.Alexandra Lynn Farr, 39, was charged with ethnic intimidation and assault after prosecutors say she shouted racial slurs at a 29-year-old passenger on Saturday, the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.The incident occurred after the victim Aicha Toure, who was wearing an Islamic head scarf, asked Farr to stop harassing and intimidating an older woman who appeared to be of South Asian descent. Farr responded by hurling anti-Islamic slurs at Toure and striking her hand and phone as Toure tried to capture the interaction on video, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.“The alleged activity of this defendant was completely inappropriate and quickly elevated to criminal activity,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement. “Racist rants have become far more common lately and we will not hesitate to take action when we can do so legally.”The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), which called on prosecutors to file hate-crime charges, applauded Worthy’s decision.“CAIR-MI is pleased that the prosecutor’s office has taken the alleged targeting of Muslims in Detroit for violent Islamophobic attacks seriously,” Amy V. Doukoure, CAIR-MI staff attorney, said in a statement. “Charging Ms. Farr under Michigan’s Ethnic Intimidation Statute sends a strong signal to Michigan’s Muslim community that hatred and intolerance against them is unacceptable and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Source: MetroXpress September 17, 2021 16:24 UTC