THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609180434
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 128 lines
The police department is investigating an incident in which two Muslim women say they were taken into custody by police officers for wearing face veils in public.
The women - who are both practicing members of the Islamic faith and wear traditional Muslim garb, called hijab - claim that two officers handcuffed them and then fondled them during a patdown for weapons.
The women were transported to police headquarters and later released without being charged. They are not being identified because they claim to be victims of a sexual assault, and The Virginian-Pilot does not publish the names of alleged victims of sex crimes.
Police acknowledged that the women were detained after an officer stopped the women from entering a local store while wearing their religious veils.
The officer thought the women were wearing ``masks'' in public, a violation of the state code, said Amber Whittaker, a spokeswoman for the police department.
Asked if the women were searched according to guidelines specified by the police department, Whittaker responded in a statement, ``That is unknown at this time - currently under review.''
And asked if the officers touched the women inappropriately, Whittaker responded, ``Not to our knowledge.''
Whittaker added: ``It is and has been the position of the police department to treat all cultures and religions with respect and fairness, and that's something we wish to maintain.''
The Muslim women on Tuesday filed a formal complaint against the department.
When the women's husbands asked the identity of the arresting officer after the incident, the officer identified himself as Officer J. Walker, the women said. Police, however, would not disclose the identities of the officers involved.
The women said it is a violation under Islamic holy law for a woman to be touched by a man other than her husband, father or son.
But one of the women said of the officers, ``I was not always a Muslim, and they fondled me. I know the difference.
``There are laws even outside of that precinct . . . and they crossed them,'' the woman said. ``Even for a non-Muslim, they crossed them.''
The women on Tuesday gave an interview at their masjid - an Islamic house of worship - on Portsmouth Boulevard, dressed in traditional Muslim clothing. They described how they were detained for allegedly committing a felony.
The women said they had left their house of worship Sunday night to buy candy and other sweets for their children. They drove to the Rack & Sack in the 2000 block of Victory Blvd.
The women said they were walking toward the store when they were approached by a Portsmouth police officer. Both women wore loose fitting, ankle-length clothing and head scarves. One of the women wore a veil that revealed only her eyes. The other wore a veil that covered her entire face and gloves covering her hands.
The officer first asked if they spoke English, the women said.
``I said yes, we do - what seems to be the problem?'' one of the women said. ``(The officer) said, `You can't go in the store with a mask.' ''
The officer was referring to the face veils both women were wearing. A minority of Muslim women choose to wear the veils, said local Muslim leaders.
``I was offended by him calling it a mask,'' one of the women said.
The woman said that she explained to the officer that the veil was part of her Islamic dress and that she was forbidden to remove her veil unless it was for her husband.
``It's not a mask,'' she said. ``I wear this because of my religion.''
The woman said the officer replied, ``I don't care what you say. It's a mask and you can't wear it in the Commonwealth of Virginia. . . . It's a mask and you have to remove them.''
The women said they asked the officer to show them the code and followed him to his patrol car, where he showed them the statute.
After reading the code, the woman said, ``I said you're right, it does say mask, but we're within our religious right to wear this.''
The woman said she cited the Koran - the Muslim holy book - which provides instruction to Muslim women on how they should dress.
The officer disagreed and said that if they did not remove their veils, they would be arrested, the women said. A third Muslim woman shopping with them, who was not wearing a veil, left to find their husbands for help.
The women refused to remove their veils and said they would shop elsewhere, but they were handcuffed by the arresting officer and his partner, the women said. A third officer arrived later, they said.
The women said they asked if a female officer could be called to search them, but the arresting officer told them no female officer was available.
``I was begging,'' the woman said. ``I asked them to wait (to search me) until my husband arrived.''
One of the women said that two officers held her while a third officer touched her chest, buttocks and genital area. They also kept pressing her stomach, asking if she were pregnant.
``They weren't doing what they were supposed to,'' she said. ``I was saying `Stop,' and they were telling me to keep quiet.''
The second woman said an officer squeezed her in the chest area and her buttocks.
``I just kept saying, `Stop touching me,' '' the woman said, crying. ``He was just touching me and fondling all over me.''
The women also said the officers took Polaroid pictures of them in the store's parking lot. They said that they tried to turn away from the camera, because Islamic law does not allow them to be photographed.
``I held my head down,'' one woman said. ``I said, `What did I do? Why do you have to take my picture?' ''
The women were taken to headquarters and later released without being charged. They later contacted the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, an Islamic advocacy group. A spokesman for the office contacted the police department and the Commonwealth's Attorney's office.
Commonwealth's Attorney Martin Bullock said Monday, ``There was a mistake in judgment, and all of us are sorry this happened.''
``We respect the religious freedoms of all people,'' Bullock said. ``This was a misunderstanding.''
Bullock said the state code does not allow masks to be worn in public, but an annotation in the code cites case law which allows an exemption for religious practices. The law was originialy targeted to outlaw the activities of the Ku Klux Klan, in which members disguised themselves by wearing white sheets. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
FROM THE VIRGINIA CODE, SECTION 18.2-422.
``It shall be unlawful for any person over sixteen years of age
while wearing any mask, hood or other device whereby a substantial
portion of the face is hidden or covered so as to conceal the
identity of the wearer, to be or appear in any public place. . . .
This section does not prohibit the masking of one's face for a
purpose other than concealing one's identity, such as . . . practice
of a religion.''
FROM THE KORAN, THE MUSLIM HOLY TEXT:
``(S)ay to the believing women . . . that they should draw their
veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their
husbands, their fathers. . . .''
KEYWORDS: ARREST MASKS ISLAM
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