Council on American-Islamic Relations
St. Louis City, Missouri (IINA) - The St. Louis chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-St. Louis) in a statement issued on Monday welcomed a hate crime charge brought against an armed man who allegedly made death threats targeting a Muslim family.
Earlier today, officials of CAIR-St. Louis, a member of the family who was under threat, and representatives of the local Muslim community met with St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert P. McCulloch to file the charge.
Leonard Debello was charged with “unlawful use of a weapon motivated by discrimination.” The charging document states: “Leonard Debello. . .knowingly exhibited in the presence of one or more persons a silver and black handgun, weapon readily capable of lethal use, in an angry or threatening manner, and the defendant knowingly did so because of Rabie Ayoub and Marwah Abdul Hussein’s race, religion or national origin.”
“We welcome the hate crime charge brought in this case and hope the prosecutor’s actions send the message that alleged acts of violence and intimidation prompted by anti-Muslim bigotry will not be tolerated,” said CAIR-St. Louis Executive Director Faizan Syed.
"I and my family are so happy that this man is finally being charged," said Rabie Ayoub. "My children can now go outside without worrying about their lives, my wife can finally peacefully leave the home and I can go to work without worrying all day about them.”
SM/IINA
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
No comments:
Post a Comment