28 May 2015

Muslim woman files lawsuit for being forced to remove hijab after arrest

On Thursday, May 28, the Arab-American Civil Rights League held a press conference regarding a federal complaint filed by a Muslim American woman against the Oceana County Sheriff’s Department, for forcing her to remove her hijab when she was falsely arrested.

34-year-old Fatme Dakroub, a Dearborn Heights resident, was vacationing at the Lake Michigan Sand Dunes with her children and other relatives on May 17 when a sheriff’s deputy pulled her over while she was driving a rented vehicle. The family was located in a parking lot designated for tourists.

The officer claimed she was speeding and questioned her UAE driver’s license. Dakroub had often traveled back and forth between the UAE and Michigan in recent years. Her Michigan driver’s license had expired, but under state law, she was still able to operate a vehicle with a UAE driver’s license. She had rented the vehicle in Oceana County, using that same license. [The Arab American News] Read more