The Council on American-Islamic Relations or CAIR in Central California is calling on the Fresno Police Department to investigate a recent attack during a protest to support Palestine as a hate crime.
The protest was Saturday night and police arrested 64-year-old Brian Turner on Sunday, after photos showed him spraying an unidentified substance on four protesters in their car.
Witnesses described hostile behavior before the attack occurred, according to Layli Shirani, a civil rights attorney for CAIR.
“Another witness had seen this gentleman, Mr. Turner, in his car, kind of circling the area, which suggests he didn’t happen to randomly be there and happened to have his car pulled up next to theirs,” Shirani said. “He was present at the rally with some kind of purpose.”
CAIR Executive Director Sukaina Hussain called it a violation of the First Amendment.
“The protestors were out there to be able to express their First Amendment right to free speech and protest,” she said. “An assault of this type should have never happened.”
The Fresno Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday, about 200 hundred protesters showed up at the same intersection to rally in solidarity with Palestine. The protest, organized by Reza Nekumanesh with the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno and CAIR Community Organizer Zena Chafi, was one of many across the globe, according to Hussain.
Mona Yasin, 18, has family in the West Bank. She, her mom and her two younger sisters also participated in the protest on the corner of Blackstone and Nees.
“They are abused by the Isreali settlers constantly,” she said, of her family. “They weren’t able to celebrate Eid because they’re just honestly afraid to leave their homes.”
Local leaders, including Fresno State NAACP President D'angelique Jackson and Muslin Student Association President Eman Hussein, called for unity against the murder of Palestinians in Gaza.
