Muslim women report hijabs being ripped off by men shouting support for Donald Trump
News Desk
American Muslims have expressed “tremendous levels of fear” after Donald Trump was unexpectedly elected as the 45th President of the United States, with some saying they had been warned not to wear their hijabs.
The Republican has consistently criticised Muslims and during the campaign pledged to ban them from entering the USA, promising a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims” entering the country.
Many social media users responded with anxiety to his shock victory, with one Twitter user saying her mother had ordered her not to wear her hijab for fear of racist reprisals.
As well as promising to ban Muslims entering the US, the new President-elect previously told countrymen that “Islam hates us” and claimed the religion is defined partly by “tremendous hatred”.
He also claimed the mother of a Muslim US soldier killed in combat was “not allowed to speak” at the Democratic convention because of her faith, despite there being no evidence that this was the case.
Several Muslim women have reported Trump supporters attempting to rip off their hijabs, which cover the hair, while others said their families have advised them to stop wearing headscarves in fear of further attacks.
Maha Abdul Gawad said she was shopping in a local Wallmart on Wednesday when another woman approached, pulled off her hijab and said: “This is not allowed anymore, so go hang yourself with it around your neck not on your head.”
Numerous incidents were also reported in schools, with students saying Muslim girls had taken off their hijabs to avoid abuse or had them forcibly removed, and teachers describing comforting crying children afraid their families would be deported.
Mackenzie Rae, from Washington, shared a message she received from a friend who works at a high school in Kansas on Wednesday.
It said: “We have two kids wearing Trump shirts pull a hijab off a Muslim girl today at school. OSS [out-of-school suspension] for five days.
“When asked why? ‘Because she’s about to get kicked out anyway and we won.’”
