Muslim family attacked while shopping at Dearborn Kroger

[Turborama]

Source: The Arab American News

A Muslim man and his family were attacked inside of the Dearborn Kroger located 15255 Michigan Avenue, at the corner of Greenfield Rd., while they were grocery shopping on Thursday, February 12.

The incident occurred around 5:45 p.m. when the Arab man and his children were inside of the store purchasing ice cream. Two Caucasian men passed by the family and began making derogatory remarks about ISIS, according to eye witnesses.

The Caucasian men began to physically assault the Arab man, making comments that included "go back to your country" and "you terrorists." One of the Caucasian men told the Arab man's young daughter to "take the rag off your head."

Kathy Mcmillan Bazzi, who was shopping at the grocery store during the incident, said she was shaken by what she witnessed.

"All hell broke loose. There was blood and threats," said Bazzi.



Read more: http://www.arabamericannews.com/news/news/id_10074/Muslim-family-attacked-while-shopping-at-Dearborn-Kroger.html

---

Dearborn woman: I saw Muslim man attacked at Kroger

Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press 11:26 p.m. EST February 13, 2015

Dearborn Police said today they are investigating an alleged bias assault by two white men against an Arab-American Muslim man who was shopping Thursday at a Kroger grocery store in the city.

The incident sparked fears among Arab Americans in Dearborn that they are not safe from bias attacks even in a city that has the highest concentration of Arab Americans in the U.S.

Kathy McMillan Bazzi, 60, of Dearborn told the Free Press that two white men at a Kroger near the corner of Michigan and Greenfield avenues attacked the Arab-American man and taunted his daughter, who wears an Islamic headscarf, or hijab. Bazzi said the pair were passing by the man and his family while making insulting comments about ISIS and Muslims.

Bazzi said the men used derogatory words against the Arab-American man.

"I hear 'ISIS,' I hear 'terrorist,' I hear 'go back to your country' and 'raghead,'" Bazzi said in an interview Friday with the Free Press.

Full article: http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2015/02/13/dearborn-muslim-attack/23388379/

[romanic]

1. Insane.

Dearborn has many Arab immigrants and groups within; crazy to think such a safe haven for them isn't even safe from hate. Sad to say, distrust of Arabs is becoming common in metro Detroit.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. This is a disturbing trend according to the news

A mosque was burned in Houston a couple days ago.

I blame Fox news and Limbaugh et al for spewing racist poison.

[PotatoChip]

6. My first thought too. Fox news.

I hope that somehow those fomenting this hatred (mostly Fox, and others on the right) will be held to account, along with the attackers.

How awful for the family, as well as the larger Dearborn Muslim community. This country has gone insane, I fear...

[villager]

52. They won't be held to account. The Democrats were too chickenshit to bring the Fairness Doctrine

...back, so there's little chance they'll hold the media outlets for their corporate sponsors / owners too accountable for anything.

[yuiyoshida]

12. This!

should be put squarely on the shoulders of hate Radio and Fox news. This is the kind of story that their reporters have been waiting for..

[jwirr]

33. And do not forget the Jerry Falwells and the hate churches with their hate colleges. This is a

disgrace to America. We can be better than this.

[mackerel]

3. Our Safeway has a security guard, I thought all Safeway/Kroger's did.

[Turborama]

4. If there was one they wee totally ineffective. From the 2nd article...

During the attack, she said, an employee of Kroger "came and he grabbed the Arabic guy, and let the ... guys beat on him. They were throwing punches at the Arabic guy."

[Delphinus]

17. Whoa!

That employee would be fired.

[christx30]

18. If an employee assisted in

the assault on a customer, the store should be sued until it has to close down. And the employee should go to jail. Penalty is up to 1 year, and/or fine up to $1,000. Should also tack on federal hate crime charges too.

[davidpdx]

8. The ones in the "rougher neighborhoods" do

I've worked at a couple Safeway stores. The one that is in downtown Portland (and if you know Portland then you know which location I'm talking about) has one and as far back as I can remember when I was first in Portland (1993) that store had one.

[kentauros]

53. That doesn't seem to be the rule for Kroger in Houston.

I don't think there are any Safeways left, so I can only speak of Kroger and other local grocery chains. My local Kroger is 24-hour and surrounded by neighborhoods I'd classify as middle-class, with some a little lower and some a little higher. There's enough of a Jewish presence for them to have several sections of kosher groceries (refrigerated, frozen, non-perishables.)

And there's always a security guard around. I think during daytime hours only is when he's on a Segue patrolling the parking lot. In the evenings and overnight, he's inside.

Now for some contrast.
I also shop sometimes at Whole Foods, because there are just some things I can't get at Kroger, or, believe it or don't, can actually get for less at WF (I know, shocking, right? ) That one is about five miles from here, maybe more, and surrounded by an area called West U (West University Place, for the neighborhood to the west of Rice University.) It's highly affluent, and a lot of medical people shop there as well (it's down the road from the Texas Medical Center.) And they have a security guard.

Fiesta has them, as does HEB, Randall's, and would assume it's the same for any other store I don't shop at. Sure, it used to not be that way, even as little as ten years ago. But I can't think of any store now that doesn't have at least one, no matter what part of town.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. Just three weeks ago I was harassed with anti gay slurs in a local Safeway, no security at a very

busy store. 'F***t' shouting straight man. No one assisted me, in a store I shopped in basically daily for 9 years. I contacted Safeway in every possible way to request that security be added, not just for customer safety but for the employees, who should not have to contend with aggressive bigots as part of being a grocer.
I think that chain has a problem. The store where I was hassled is ultra busy, it must make huge profits, but they don't pony up for security.

[LeftyMom]

46. About a year ago a man was screaming sexist obscenities and threats at me in the parking lot

at a local Safeway because he seemed to think I'd taken "his" parking space. He'd also blocked my car in with his car, so I couldn't have moved out of "his" parking space in any case.

This went on for several minutes, with the security guy standing right there watching but not intervening.

I only got the guy to leave me the fuck alone and get back in his car by dialing 911 but not pressing send, holding my phone up to my passenger side window and gesturing with my finger toward the "send" button.

He's lucky I didn't back up into his car or over his foot. I considered both possibilities but decided they weren't worth the paperwork hassle that they'd create.

Needless to say I sent a rather testy email to Safeway about their useless security guard.

[JohnnyRingo]

5. "Bias assault"?

Is that the politically correct term for hate crime now? Does the state of Michigan use that so they don't have to charge under federal laws? Maybe they refer to lynchings as "posture correction attacks".

Sounds like they've been completely Hannitized.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. Bias crime is a legitimate term, and bias is part of the official definition of 'hate crime' at the

FBI:
For the purposes of collecting statistics, Congress has defined a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.”

The FBI uses 'bias crimes' and 'hate crimes'. I prefer the term myself as it more accurately describes the crimes.

[jberryhill]

54. No, that IS the proper legal term

First off, a state does not charge or prosecute under federal law.

But more importantly, crimes "motivated by bias" against ethnic or religious groups, etc. IS the proper statutory wording in Michigan and many other states. Lots of crimes involve "hate". What are colloquially called "hate crime laws" are, in point of fact, aggravating factors for bias-motivated crimes. Showing "bias motivation" as an element of a crime is a simpler proposition than proving the presence or absence of something as nebulous as "hate".

[DeSwiss]

7. K&R

[libdem4life]

29. Nailed it.

[jwirr]

32. I love this.

[Cali_Democrat]

38. Nice!

[davidpdx]

9. Personally if I had been there I would have rather stepped in and had them wail on me

then that guy and his family. It's so fucking degrading. I can't imagine how bad they feel after that. Why the fuck didn't someone stop it is beyond me.

[truebluegreen]

26. +100

We have the country we as a whole deserve.

[randys1]

27. If these vicious, ugly, disgusting excuses for human beings arent careful

they will piss off otherwise peaceful people like yourself and myself.

They might go so far that millions of decent white folk will DARE these motherfuckers to even open their god damn mouth

They might do that, soon..

[davidpdx]

37. Honestly that's what I don't understand

It goes back the it's not my problem type of attitude. I remember a sociology study where witnesses were asked what they saw after a crime, but I can't remember the entire details because this was in a class eons ago. Anyway I was thinking of that as a parallel to why no one will step in and stop such an act.

Apparently one of the store employees got involved and that made the entire situation even worse.

I haven't heard any updates on the story, but it will be interesting to see what happens. IMHO the two men who attacked them should go to prison (and given the type of attack I'd bet they already have priors for something similar).

[TeamPooka]

10. The American Sniper Effect -

Domestic Total as of Feb. 12, 2015: $287,698,293
That's $300 million dollars of hate against Arab Americans being spread.
And more with each viewing.

[Fred Sanders]

20. The media and movie propaganda effect...

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

35. Bias and violence pre-date American Sniper

Dearborn has had incidents like this before American Sniper. Before 9/11. Before Lee Harvey Oswald. Ignorant thuggishness did not recently spring from the films of Clint Eastwood. Unless it was from spaghetti westerns.

[TeamPooka]

36. That's a Bozo comment for sure.

[kath]

11. Thanks, Clint Eastwood!

So wonderful that you helped fan the flames of anti-Muslim bigotry.

[pocoloco]

21. Thanks, Clint Eastwood!

For a pretty damn good war movie!

Of course the ones who really deserve your thanks are all the Dems
who went along and voted for the war in the first place!

[druidity33]

40. Hey!

Some of those Dems have apologized for that vote. How many Republicans have? And maybe it's a good movie, but i don't think it accurately represents Kyle's life and actions. I think your sarcastic response is misplaced. I've been a fan of Eastwood's work for a long time... and he has made good movies. But there is an agenda at work here that is unhealthy. It's maybe time to admit Clint is a "little crazy" (in a rabid Republican sorta way)... oh... maybe you two would get along?

[closeupready]

24. +1000. And all these other bigots in the media.

[ck4829]

13. Wait, this is that no-go zone the righties keep talking about, right?

Sure didn't seem no-go for the anti-Muslim bigots.

[skepticscott]

16. Funny how the religion of the people who committed the people who committed these acts

isn't being harped on by the news media and hordes of self-righteous internet scolds, If they had been atheists, they'd be all over it like flies on shit, gleefully pointing out how sucky atheists are, and demanding that Famous Atheists "denounce" the acts as if they bore some responsibility for them.

Will there be calls for "Caucasian" organizations to denounce these acts of harassment and violence? Will white males everyone be called upon to re-examine their worldview? If these people were Christians, attacking Muslims (not a bad bet) would the leaders of their churches be raked over the coals in the media?

Don't hold your breath.

[riderinthestorm]

19. Attacks against AA and GLBT persons are far more common and rarely reported in the news

I condemn all attacks against anyone but wish the media put the spotlight equally.



Hope this Muslim family has a speedy recovery.

[snagglepuss]

23. "Journalists collect the news, editors create it". A comment from another site.

[randys1]

28. Same pieces of human feces attack your community, again, keep it up you pieces of vile shit

and someday you will be outnumbered and will need to stop or





......................

[riderinthestorm]

34. Uhm what??!!

[randys1]

43. I meant the same assholes who would attack and kill these Muslim people are always the same ones

who attack the Gay community.

Not always, but usually

Redneck dumbshit assholes

[heaven05]

22. welcome to

bigotryville and racismville, america. Evil people do ignorant and cruel things like this without thinking. They are incapable of kindness to others. I hope at least there are photos(phone) of these two racist clowns.

[rocktivity]

25. It doesn't sound as though anyone was detained

Last edited Tue May 12, 2015, 09:27 PM - Edit history (1)

Did the assailants escape?

Here's hoping that the store has a videotape -- that will determine if they have their own security, and how long it took the cops to show up.


rocktivity

[Rhinodawg]

30. Disgusting.

Find the 2 a$$holes and throw away the key.

[jwirr]

31. My thougts: The two men are not men they are cowards. Attacking a family like that is nothing

short of being a coward - a bully.

[leveymg]

39. Mosque burning, fatal shootings, and now this. Behaving like it's Germany,1938

[onenote]

44. What is happening here is horrible, but comparing it to Germany 1938

is ridiculous and demonstrates an alarming lack of knowledge of that situation.

For starters, it was the government that was attacking synagogues, destroying businesses, and arresting and departing Jews.

Three incidents from Germany 1938:
The arrest and deportation of 17,000 German Jews.
Kristallnacht: 7500 Jewish businesses destroyed, 267 synagogues burned, 91 Jews killed, and at least 25,000 Jewish men arrested.
The government burns the Nurenberg synagogue.

Again, the shooting in North Carolina, the burning of the mosque in Texas, and the assault in Dearborn are all inexcusable, horrific events. The fact that they don't really compare with what was going on in German in 1938 doesn't diminish them. But the comparison does diminish what was going on in Germany.

[Turborama]

45. Good points. But what if they meant the people doing these things are "behaving like it's 1938"?

In the perpetrators sick and twisted brainwashed minds they probably would love to see arrests, deportations, murders, mosques and businesses destroyed on that scale.

However, if there are any historical parallels, 1933 would be more apt.

[leveymg]

47. Exactly

The reports of Kristalnacht are premature. But, that didn't happen until November.

[onenote]

48. If you think that this November the government will be sponsoring

the burning of Muslim American businesses, killing hundreds, and arresting thousands, you are seriously out of touch with reality.

[leveymg]

59. Apparently, you don't pick up on nuance. But, we have entered a New Normal, and are sliding

Last edited Sun Feb 15, 2015, 07:57 PM - Edit history (4)

in the direction of fascism. A couple weeks after 9/11, Bob Simon said the same thing during an interview with Charlie Rose.

To make my post, above, a bit clearer for you, I am making the point that those who are disposed toward Right-wing extremism seem to be behaving as if they now have permission to act out their violent fantasies. American Sniper is a symptom of that, as are the killings and assaults on Muslims and the Houston mosque burning. Those sickies who are swept up in this are (in their heads) at the triumphal stage of parades of soldiers with blonde girls in pigtails holding flowers, circa October, 1938. But, they know which way they want to march. So should we.

[onenote]

60. Apparently you don't do nuance

Or maybe you just don't know what that word means.

But the statement that comparisons of today to Kristallnact are "premature" but "that didn't happen until November" isn't nuanced. It's just hyperbolic nonsense.

The fact that you know exactly what is in the heads of those that committed recent violence against Muslims is interesting. Maybe you can share exactly what is in the heads of those who commit other violent acts. For example, did the cretin in Denmark think in his head that he was at the triumphant stage of an Islamic takeover? Or maybe he thought he was reviving Hitler's campaign against the Jews. Or maybe he just was a twisted follower of a twisted ideology with little thought about what he was doing. I have no idea, but maybe you can let me know exactly what was in his head as well.

[leveymg]

61. Really, you're going to do the old repeat statement, twist, and project?

Rhetoric, isn't it fun?

[rgbecker]

41. Americans don't have to fear ISIL...

It's the damn Caucasians striking the homeland.

[blkmusclmachine]

42. "Christian love" ~> a broken arm, 2 black eyes, and 1 cracked rib.

HATE HATE HATE HATE

[Quantess]

49. The Religion of Peace VS. Christian Love

Good thing I'm not relgious!

[Violet_Crumble]

50. Atheists can't be violent and extremely bigoted?

I think those guys attacked that family coz they're nasty bigots. That doesn't mean they must be Christians. I've met atheists who hate Muslims just as much as some Christians do...

[shenmue]

51. Not good!

[redruddyred]

55. all brown people are alike amirite.

lazy, lazy thinking.

[treestar]

56. Aren't Arabs Caucasian?

Why do they use that term?

[Democat]

57. Are there any other witnesses?

I wonder if the people who were attacked have been interviewed by police.

[romanic]

58. Haven't heard anything yet.

Nothing reported in the media here in MI on that front. I don't expect the victims to go in front of news cameras though, I know I wouldn't if I were in their shoes for fear that more bigots will come out of the woodworks.