On February 14, 2011, CAIR WA staff and two interns, along with King County Prosecuting Attorney for Hate Crimes, Mike Hogan, organized and conducted an educational forum at Seattle University School of Law on the rise of Islamophobia since 9/11 and the violence that can sometimes result from such fear.  The event was held at a weekly forum called Social Justice Mondays, put on by the Access to Justice Institute (ATJI), which is housed in the Law School. CAIR-WA Community Outreach Coordinator Abigail Stahl worked with ATJI to put on an event that addressed the trends of anti-Muslim hate and the subsequent violations of the law, ranging from employment discrimination to violent attacks against Muslims.

Click here to view photos from the event. 

CAIR-WA Executive Director Arsalan Bukhari opened the forum with a brief slide show on what defines Islamophobia, who propagates it, and some of nuances of free speech, protected speech, and hate speech.  Following Arsalan's introduction, Mike dove further into what constitutes a hate crime, who the typical offenders are, and how hate crimes are prosecuted effectively. He shared several examples from King County of Muslims and Sikhs being attacked from an anti-Muslim bias.

Following Mike's contributions, CAIR-WA Civil Rights Coordinator Jennifer Gist shared some local examples that CAIR-WA has worked on.  She focused on a recent and more egregious case of two Somali descended Muslim women who were attacked at a gas station in Tukwila in October 2010. Their attacker yelled racial and religious slurs at the two frightened women, and then became physical-pushing one victim, and slamming the car door on the other victim's leg. CAIR-WA vigorously pursued this case to be charged as a federal hate crime, and be prosecuted to the greatest extent of the law.

Finally, the CAIR-WA staff members and Mike answered questions from the students and provided opportunities for law students to be involved with CAIR-WA, including internships, volunteering, and challenging Islamophobia.