Three women who were arrested during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Dallas Love Field on January 8 have filed a lawsuit against Dallas County, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, and three unnamed Dallas County corrections officers, alleging that they were ordered to remove their hijabs (head scarves) while in custody because they were taking photographs.
According to the lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas, the photo was published in an NBC5 article and provided to agencies, including the Texas Board of Judicial Review. NBC5 subsequently removed the photo from the article.
A representative for the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation. A representative for Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins did not respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit alleges that forcing the three women — Donia El Hussein and Tamera Hutcherson, of Dallas County, and Nidah Rafi, of Collin County — to remove their hijabs violated their First Amendment right to practice their religion and caused them emotional distress, humiliation and embarrassment.
“This is not a one-off incident,” Rafi said. Dallas Morning News“If someone were to run a background check on me or any of the other women right now, they would see that photo.”
“It feels like a continuing disregard for our religious obligations.”
El-Hussein and Hutcherson news.
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and does not specify an amount for damages.
“For someone who believes covering their hair is a religious obligation and that hair is a sacred part of the body, it would be incredibly humiliating to have the government order them to remove their bra and pose for photos in front of strangers,” said Huma Yassin, one of three lawyers representing the women.
Yasin said the lawsuit seeks a policy change to prohibit people from removing their religious clothing for photographs. “While this is personally traumatic for me, it is also an opportunity to ensure this never happens again.”
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The arrest took place at the Lou Sterrett Justice Center, according to the lawsuit. When ordered to remove her headscarf, Hutcherson told officers it was part of her sincere religious beliefs, according to the lawsuit. Officers again ordered her to remove her headscarf, and Hutcherson shook and cried as she did so, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Rafi and El Hussein were asked to remove their hijabs but vehemently refused, and in response to Rafi’s protests, officers told her, “It’s part of the process. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s difficult.”
According to the lawsuit, Rafi and El Hussein were then photographed in a common area in full view of officers, detainees and passersby.
Yasin said her office previously sent a demand letter threatening to sue the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office but received no response.
Thirteen protesters from the Palestinian Youth Movement and other groups were arrested on January 8 for trying to block entry to Dallas Love Field Airport, where President Joe Biden was arriving to attend an event honoring the late Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson.
Nashwa Abdelwahed, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Youth Movement, said: news People are protesting the president’s arrival because “Biden is essentially aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes.”
“No politician, including Biden, will rest without Palestinians getting justice,” she said.
According to the Associated Press, more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed and 74,000 injured in Gaza since October. The Associated Press reported that more than one million displaced Palestinians have taken refuge in Rafah, where Israel plans to launch its ground offensive. No one in Gaza is food secure, and hundreds of thousands of people are suffering from catastrophic hunger, according to data from the International Initiative for Integrated Food Security Catalog.
“Nobody’s giving up”
Despite the incidents described in the lawsuit, Rafi said he continues to participate in local protests, including one this month in front of the Garland Aerospace Defense Facility, where demonstrators accused General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, which runs the facility, of making and selling weapons used by the Israeli military.
More than a dozen people were arrested, and some were forced to remove their hijabs for photographs, according to the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
“What happened was obviously a very traumatic event and will have a lasting impact on me and the other women,” Rafi said of her January arrest, “but at the same time, it has not deterred any of us and I refuse to be deterred.”
Last year, Muslim women in other US cities, including Grand Rapids, Michigan; Bowling Green, Kentucky; and Corum, New York, filed lawsuits alleging they were forced to remove their hijabs.
In January, a Tennessee woman reached a settlement with Rutherford County and the county sheriff’s office after she was forced to remove her hijab for an arrest photograph. The Tennessean report.
As part of the settlement, the county agreed to an updated policy that says people who are arrested or charged do not have to remove their religious head coverings as long as their face and profile are visible, according to the release. The TennesseanShe also agreed to delete all photos and videos of women not wearing the hijab and pay $100,000.
Joy Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for the Dallas Morning News through its partnership with Report for America.
