(LOS ANGELES, CA – 6/16/2020) – The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today called for a Chatsworth woman arrested for vandalizing her neighbor’s car before going on a racist rant to be charged with a hate crime.
According to CBS/2, video showed the woman knocking dents in her neighbor’s car with two hammers over the weekend. The woman then unleashing a profanity-laced tirade on the car owner’s roommate – a Latina woman – telling her to get out of the neighborhood. The woman then began hitting the neighbor’s trash cans before she was restrained by another neighbor.
The roommate told reporters the irate neighbor has previously told her and the car owner to “go back to Mexico.”
The Los Angeles Police Department responded and arrested the woman on suspicion of felony vandalism, but her bail was set at zero due to the COVID-19 pandemic and she was released the following morning.
WATCH: Caught On Camera: Chatsworth Woman Goes On Racist Rant After Damaging Neighbor’s Car
In a statement, CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said:
“We have continually warned about the fact that normalizing hate speech leads to hate threats and violence. Telling someone to ‘go back’ or to ‘get out’ is a racist trope that has been used even by those at the highest level of our society to marginalize minority communities.
“We welcome this suspect’s arrest, but we call for her to be charged with a hate crime. We are grateful no one was injured in this incident and stand in solidarity with all marginalized communities.”
Ayloush urged community members to report any bias incidents to police and to CAIR-LA’s Civil Rights Department at 714-776-1177 or by filing a report at: https://bit.ly/2L9Ezsw.
CAIR-LA is Southern California’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR-LA Communications Manager Eugene W. Fields, 714-851-4851 or efields@cair.com