Arab-American Muslims accuse Hamtramck police of bias in arrests

Aug. 10--Two Yemeni-American immigrants with an ice cream truck have filed a civil rights complaint alleging that Hamtramck Police arrested them without cause after falsely accusing them of insurance fraud, jailing them for two days without food, water and medicine.

"They put me (in) jail, but I didn't do anything wrong," Mohamed Wassel, 24, of Hamtramck, told the Free Press on Monday. "They don't like Arabs, that's why."

A city leader, however, called it a misunderstanding.

The complaint was filed last week with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights by attorneys with the Arab American Civil Rights League in Dearborn. It says that in March, brothers Omar and Mohamed Wassel were arrested and put in jail for two days after police falsely accused them of having fake insurance for their ice cream truck, which had an expired license plate. After police verified the insurance was legitimate, they were released and not charged with any crime.

"I feel scared," Mohamed Wassel said of his time in jail. "It was shocking."

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Nabih Ayad, founder of the group, said what happened to the brothers is part of a pattern of Arab Americans and Bangladeshi Americans being harassed by police in Hamtramck because of their background.

"We've had numerous complaints about Hamtramck Police and the way they treat the Yemeni and Bangladeshi communities," Ayad said. "He's just trying to make a living and to lock him up for two days while they're alleging the insurance documents was fake is absolutely absurd."

Hamtramck Police Chief Anne Moise did not return a message left Monday afternoon. Hamtramck Mayor Karen Majewski said she couldn't comment on the specific case because their city attorney hadn't received the complaint and it's pending litigation.

But she added that "the city is committed to serving everyone with respect and professionalism. When problems arise, we always invite residents to bring any complaints to the City Manager or the Police Chief. Those issues can usually be resolved with discussion, and it gives us a chance to review our records and conduct an investigation, if need be. We all want the same thing, and we also want to know when we're not living up to our obligations to our residents."

Hamtramck City Councilman Saad Almasmari, who is of Yemeni descent, said he was aware of the dispute, which he said "was a misunderstanding between the police and the persons."

Almasmari said he understands why the brothers are upset, given that they were jailed for two days even though they had legitimate insurance, but he added that relations in Hamtramck are generally good between police and the Yemeni-American community.

Hamtrack's population is diverse, with Yemeni-Americans the biggest ethnic group, at 24% of the population, and Bangladeshis making up 15-19% of the population, according to U.S. census figures. Overall, Muslims make up about half of the population, say community leaders. In January, Hamtramck's City Council became Muslim-majority.

But there are no Yemeni Americans, Bangladeshi Americans or Muslim Americans on the police department.

"A city's police department should reflect the diversity of the people of the city," Ayad said. "That's one of the major problems."

Mayor Majewksi said in response: "We've...tried to reach out to the various ethnic groups in the city and invite them to apply for positions in all our city departments as they become available. Within the police department, there are clear requirements for the position of police officer, and it's been especially hard for us to attract and keep qualified candidates from our Muslim communities, especially when other metro departments can offer higher pay and benefits."

Almasmari of the City Council said: "There's good relations between the police and the Arab community and all the Hamtramck communities." He said police are treating people "equally...no problems because of their religion or ethnicity. They're cool with everyone."

According to the complaint, the incident started on or about March 16, when Omar Wassel received a letter from the city saying he could not park the truck near his house. The license plate had expired. Wassel said they were unaware of the expiration because they had not received a renewal notice, said the complaint.

The truck was then towed, impounded and the license plate removed.

"That same day, my brother Mohamed and I went to get new license plate to present at the police station to retrieve the vehicle," said the complaint. "The truck had been insured since it was purchased and the insurance was still valid. After getting the plate, my brother and I went to the Hamtramck Police Station and showed the license plate and proof of insurance. At the time, the police chief was present, and she told me to come back the next day with additional proof and documentation."

But the next day, they said, they encountered hostile officers. One officer at the window "threatened that if we presented fake insurance, he would arrest us," said the complaint. When it was their turn, they were accused of having fake insurance.

"He immediately arrested me while my brother was on the phone with my father, who attempting to convince the officer that it was valid insurance," said the complaint. "As a result, my brother Mohamed was arrested, too. This officer arrested us and accused of insurance fraud ... My father was aware of our arrest and came himself to the police station and brought with him the two insurance agents, named Eric and Richard, who sold us the insurance. They tried to convince the officer that the insurance was valid and showed proof.

"The officers refused to believe the agents" and then jailed the brothers at about 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. the next day, said the complaint.

Mohamed Wassel said he was denied his asthma inhaler while he was jail. They said that police also confiscated their phones, preventing Mohamed from calling his employer to tell him he wouldn't be able to work that day.

The complaint said "the officers were unnecessarily aggressive with us and continued to accuse me of having fake documents and laughed at me and humiliated me. We were not even offered anything to drink for two days. We were later released after the officers verified the insurance was not fraudulent. We were given no release paperwork or documentation of the incident upon our release."

Omar Wassel said Monday he and his brother filed the complaints because "I want them to stop doing this to Arab people. We are Americans, we pay taxes."

Rula Aoun, director at the Arab American Civil Rights League, said "it was an unnecessary detainment. There was no reason to treat these gentleman in the way they were ... the humiliation is unnecessary. ... It was an abuse of power."

Contact Niraj Warikoo: [email protected] or 313-223-4792. Follow him on Twitter @nwarikoo

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