North Carolina – The Muslim woman who was ejected from Republican President Candidate Donald Trump’s rally for standing silently in protest has now spoken up. She decided to explain why she did it and how things happened.
Rose Hamid, a 56-year-old flight attendant from North Carolina is the A U.S. Muslin woman who stood up silently in the stands directly behind Trump as a peaceful form of protest during Friday night’s rally.
Hamid was wearing a white hijab and a blue t-shirt inscribed with the words, “Salam, I come in peace.” That was Hamid’s first form of protest, the second one, the one that got her out of the rally, consisted in standing up in complete silent if Trump said anything hateful about any group, not just Muslims, she later explained.
When Trump suggested that refugees fleeing violence in Syria were connected with Islamic State militants Hamid stood up as she promised herself.
Hamid decided to explain the event from her own perspective. She said that just seconds after she stood behind Trump, people in the crowd started yelling “Trump! Trump!” as the rally’s organizers had instructed them to do in case of any protest. Then, security officers showed up at her seat and told her and a friend they had to leave the premises just saying “come with me, come with me”.
According to Hamid the officer didn’t even tell them they were causing disturbance, they just escorted them out. Hamid said one person yelled at her, “You have a bomb, you have a bomb” While they were escorted out. She was later said she was trespassing at a private event.
Hamid now decided to explain why she did it. She said she came to the rally because she wanted Trump supporters to meet a Muslim in real life. She believes some Trump supporters may not be looking past his showy campaign to see the damage he is doing.
“I get why he’s popular: he’s an entertainer, he’s engaging, there are certainly aspects that appeal to certain parts of society. He even has valid points in some cases. But they have to recognize what they’re supporting. His ramping up of his hateful rhetoric is just not what America is, and it’s not who we are as a country,” Hamid said in a telephone interview with Reuters.
“His supporters really need to look at what it is that he’s proposing, and the type of bully mentality that he has of disrespecting people to such a tremendous degree,” she added.
The incident has caused a firestorm on social media. People have been heavily criticizing the actions taken towards Hamid, including some republican politicians. The Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Governor John Kasich said the crowd’s response at Trump’s rally was inappropriate. He claimed that people don’t need to be shouting and booing and scaring somebody who decided to stand up and have some sort of silent protest.
Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is demanding an apology from Trump after the incident. Award said that Donald Trump should make a public apology to Hamid and make a clear statement that American Muslims are welcome as fellow citizens and as participants in the nation’s political process. She also called on Trump to meet with American Muslim leaders to try and put an end to the “anti-Muslim hysteria”.
“The image of a Muslim woman being abused and ejected from a political rally sends a chilling message to American Muslims and to all those who value our nation’s traditions of religious diversity and civic participation,” Awad said.
This is the latest Trump’s controversy involving Muslims. The biggest one so far is Trump’s announcement of his intentions to ban all foreign Muslims from entering the United States.
Source: Reuters