A decorated Muslim police officer was harassed and threatened for wearing the hijab over the weakened in New York.
Officer Aml Elsokary was off duty on Saturday morning when she dropped off her 16-year-old son on a street corner and went to park the car. After parking the car and returning to where she had dropped her son, she saw a white man, who appeared to be in his 30s, harassing and shoving her son.
As she approached, the man screamed, “ISIS b****, I will cut your throat. Go back to your country!”
Unarmed and in casual attire, Elsokary did not reveal her identity as a police officer to the man. Police have been looking for the man and the NYPD Hate Crimes unit is probing the incident as a hate crime.
In 2014, Elsokary was awarded a medal for bravery when she charged into a burning building to save an elderly man and a small child. The veteran officer and her partner rushed into a smoke-filled building when they heard a baby crying on the second floor.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a dinner honouring Elsokary that she was “a hero long before that remarkable day.” She joined the police force after the 9/11 attacks in order to fight anti-Muslim stigma.
