ADC Press Release:
Woman Charged with Hate Crime Against Arab American Sentenced Today
Washington, DC | October 24, 2007 | www.adc.org | Today, Abed Ayoub, Legal Advisor for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), and Haris Tarin, Community Development Director for the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), attended the sentencing hearing of Kia Reid who was charged with a federal hate crime against her Arab-American supervisor in May (see ADC’s May 4, 2007, press release below).
Reid was sentenced to two years probation and will be incarcerated for the first eight months. She was also sentenced to 200 hours of community service which must be completed at a mosque. Additionally, she was mandated to take anger management and diversity training classes. In handing down the sentence, Judge Gene Pratter said, “Our society cannot afford to dismiss this type of conduct.”
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ADC Press Release:
Federal Charges in Hate Crimes Targeting Arab American Woman
https://www.adc.org/index.php?id=3099
Washington, DC | May 4, 2007 | www.adc.org | This week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) charged a Philadelphia woman with committing a federal hate crime because she sent a violent and threatening letter to her supervisor at work. The DOJ and FBI investigated the incident as a civil rights violation because the threatening letter was an attempt to interfere with the supervisor’s federally protected employment activity, contained the threat of force, and was indicative of apparent bias involving race, religion, and ethnicity.
According to DOJ, on October 2, 2006, Kia Reid, left an ominous and threatening letter in her supervisor’s office at a Philadelphia hotel. The letter included the phrases “Remember 9/11,” “you and your kids will die like dogs,” “tie onto the fence,” “death,” and other references to death and hanging. The victim, whose identity has not been disclosed, is still fearful for her safety and the safety of her children.
The victim, an Arab-American Muslim woman, contacted the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). ADC brought the incident to the attention of the Civil Rights Unit at FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC. After an investigation, Kia Reid was charged with committing a federal hate crime and faces a maximum term of one year in prison, a one-year period of supervised release, and a $100,000 fine.
ADC thanks the FBI and DOJ for their efforts to crackdown on anti-Arab and anti-Muslim incidents. FBI statistics indicated that 11 percent of hate crimes motivated by religious bias target Muslims. More than 30 percent of all reported hate crime offenses in 2005 involved intimidation similar to this case.
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NOTE TO EDITORS: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), which is non sectarian and non partisan, is the largest Arab-American civil rights organization in the United States. It was founded in 1980, by former Senator James Abourezk to protect the civil rights of people of Arab descent in the United States and to promote the cultural heritage of the Arabs. ADC has 38 chapters nationwide, including chapters in every major city in the country, and members in all 50 states.
The ADC Research Institute (ADC-RI), which was founded in 1981, is a Section 501(c)(3) educational organization that sponsors a wide range of programs on behalf of Arab Americans and of importance to all Americans. ADC-RI programs include research studies, seminars, conferences and publications that document and analyze the discrimination faced by Arab Americans in the workplace, schools, media, and governmental agencies and institutions. ADC-RI also celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the Arabs.