Two Muslim women attacked in Florida

CAIR says women were attacked as they were leaving the places where they worship and were wearing hijabs

Two Muslim women were targeted in Florida’s Tampa Bay area with one reportedly being shot at and the other nearly being driven off the road.

The women were attacked on Thursday as they were leaving the places where they worship and were wearing hijabs, according to the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).



“In the first incident, a hijab-wearing Muslim woman in Hillsborough County was chased while driving her car. A man driving a car cut in front of her car while throwing rocks and other objects at her. At one point, he got out of his car and screamed and cursed at her. The victim felt even more threated when the individual stated yelling, "I'm gonna cut her!" a statement posted on CAIR’s website read.

“In a second incident in the Tampa area, another hijab-wearing Muslim woman's car was shot at while leaving an Islamic Center. Fearing for her life, she proceeded to report it to the authorities immediately,” the statement added.

CAIR Florida's Legal Department Director Thania Diaz-Clevenger said that both cases are under investigation by various law enforcement agencies. "Our main concern right now is the safety and well-being of these victims.”



Hassan Shibly, CAIR Florida's Chief Executive Director, attributed the unsafe climate in the Muslim community to the inflammatory Islamophobic rhetoric of some political leaders.

"Our society expects more from our political leadership, not the provocative and incendiary discourse bashing Muslims and everyone else who stands for our cherished values of freedom and justice consecrated in our Constitution. Let it be known that bigotry and hate speech are very dangerous and often result in hate crimes against our women and children,” Shibly said.

This article originally appeared on 10 NEWS.