'Go back to your country': Muslim women harassed in Georgia while praying
The incident was caught on camera.
The incident was caught on camera.
The incident was caught on camera.
A group of Muslim women was verbally attacked by a man in a Georgia parking garage.
It happened at the Avalon shopping center in Alpharetta, with the incident caught on camera.
"Where y'all from?" the man asked.
"It doesn't matter," one of the women responded.
"Why does it matter to you then?" another woman asked.
"It does because you're worshiping a false god, because y'all are pieces of s***," the man said.
The women, who spoke to Atlanta News First anonymously for privacy, said they were shaken up by the encounter.
They explained that they had set up their prayer rug in an empty parking spot to get in a quick prayer before enjoying Avalon on their Eid day, a celebration marking the end of Ramadan.
"And the first thing I thought I was like either I'm going to get shot right now or I'm literally gonna get run over. Like it's like I was scared and my heart dropped," one of the women said.
The women said the incident lasted three minutes.
"Go back to your country!" the man said.
"That's fine," one of the women responded.
"Your demolished poor, Middle Eastern," the man continued.
"Kept coming back with more, pulling stuff out of left field, nothing really was making sense. All of it was just out of pure hate and pure disgust, from his disgust of us," one of the women said.
All the women are born and raised in Georgia, which is why Azka Mahmood, the executive director for Georgia's Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), said the women belong here.
"One nation under God, right? That's how we're supposed to be, and we really hope that a lot of people are going to condemn this act and not tolerate it," Mahmood said.
Alpharetta police said, despite what it calls disgusting comments, the man committed no crimes, and the investigation is closed, adding all speech is protected even if not agreed with, and they don't condone this activity.
The women said they understand the response, adding that the incident only strengthens them.
"This is our identity. This is our faith, no matter what anybody says to us, no matter what bigot wants to tell us that we have a false god or whatever, we will be firm on our feet," one of the women said.
According to CAIR, anti-Muslim hate incidents have increased by nearly seven-and-a-half percent over the past year.
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