Man arrested for derogatory slurs outside a Stamford mosque; CAIR-CT urges hate crime charges
It happened around 10 p.m. Saturday as a group of Muslim families walked out of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York on Washington Boulevard, according to CAIR-CT chairman Farhan Memon.
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Stamford police arrested a man who yelled slurs outside a local mosque on Saturday.
Michael Slocum, 36, of Stamford voluntarily surrendered and was arrested on Tuesday.
Slocum was charged with a single count of breach of peace.
He was released on a promise to appear in court on Aug. 26.
The arrest comes after an investigation into a possible hate crime outside a local mosque.
The Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the country's largest Muslim civil rights group, posted cellphone video to social media of the apparent harassment.
It happened around 10 p.m. Saturday as a group of Muslim families walked out of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York on Washington Boulevard, according to CAIR-CT chairman Farhan Memon.
The video shows a white SUV stopped in front of the gates, holding up traffic, as Slocum yells. “Get the [expletive] out of here. Fifty-six Muslim countries in the world. Go pick one. Why you come to a Catholic country? Why?” he is heard saying on the video.
Slocum also hurled insults against Islam and the Prophet Mohammad, per the video.
Farhan Memon, chairman of CAIR-CT released a statement following the arrest:
“While we recognize the importance of holding the perpetrator accountable, we believe that his conduct — explicitly targeting Muslims because of their religion and occurring at a house of worship — fits the criteria for prosecution under Connecticut’s hate crime statutes, which provide for stronger penalties and send a clearer message that bigotry and intimidation will not be tolerated in our state.
"This was not just a case of disturbing the peace. It was a deliberate attempt to harass and intimidate an entire community because of their faith. The law is clear: when someone acts with the specific intent to target people based on religion, it’s a hate crime. We urge the authorities to review the evidence and consider amending the charges to reflect that reality."
CAIR-CT also called on the Stamford Police Department and the State’s Attorney’s Office to review the incident under the hate crime provisions.
The civil rights organization also called on community members to remain vigilant and report all incidents of bias, harassment or hate to law enforcement and to CAIR-CT.
RELATED: Stamford police investigating after video shows man yelling Islamic insults outside mosque
