Muslims in San Francisco attacked with hate speech during Eid prayers

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Shahbaz Shaikh says he was never involved in a hate incident during his childhood in San Francisco until this encounter on Monday morning:

Unknown man: “You asshole! You come from a shitty country!”

Sheikh: “I was born here, sir. Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

Unknown man: “You are not welcome here, you wankers! You are devils. You are a devil!”

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“It took me a while to understand what was happening. Then I was overcome with fear. Then I started to panic. I was worried about other people’s safety. About my own. We don’t know this person,” explains Shaikh, who grew up in San Francisco.

It happened in McLaren Park as families gathered to pray and celebrate Eid al-Adha, the most important holiday in the Islamic calendar.

He says the verbal attack was unfounded.

Unknown man: “Why don’t you go somewhere else, you asshole! Fuck you all! I’ll put some lard in here for you wankers!”

The pork reference is likely because Muslims don’t eat pork. Shaikh says the use of this specific language is also a red flag.

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“So there was an intention behind this statement. It didn’t just come out of nowhere. It was researched. It was targeted. And that made it even more heinous,” Shaikh suspects.

“When I saw the video, what worried me most was what he might do next. If someone spreads hate so freely, what stops him from committing violence?” asks Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of CAIR, the Council on Islamic American Relations, the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the United States.

Billoo says CAIR has seen the biggest spike in anti-Muslim hate in 30 years this year, and what happened in San Francisco is just another example of that.

“It’s becoming socially acceptable for him to behave like this. We need to get to the bottom of this,” says Billoo. “It’s not that a prison sentence is always or never necessarily the solution. Rather, the question is what culture and tone do we set in our communities.”

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“So many people have called me. They are scared, especially because it is happening in a public place, in a park,” says Hala Hijazi, a member of the San Francisco Police Community Advisory Board.

Hijazi was involved in community mobilization when another mosque in San Francisco was vandalized in April, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

She says she contacted the mayor and other officials to inform them of the incident and is upset that more city leaders have not condemned the attack.

“Not caring about their safety, not commenting or acknowledging their fears and concerns, especially on a holiday, also shows us that not all places of worship are the same,” Hijazi says.

Shaikh filed a police report and said the SFPD is investigating.