CAIR-LA Calls For Hate Crime Investigation After LASD Shuts Down Palmdale Candidate Forum
PALMDALE (CBSLA) — A recent political forum in the Antelope Valley got so heated, deputies were called to shut it down.
The meeting started out as an educational candidate forum for the 25th Congressional District — former Rep. Katie Hill's seat — but quickly turned into a shouting match.
"When they say Muslim ban, I say Trump wife ban," Cenk Uygur, a candidate, said. "So, he has many immigrant wives, any by the way, Melania has broken the law in how she came here."
"Don't degrade my president or his wife," an older man in the audience said.
The forum was held at the American Islamic Institute of Antelope Valley Saturday evening and was co-sponsored by CAIR-LA. They said soon after the candidate introductions, a small group began shouting and disrupting the event.
"They would not let anybody speak, and every time somebody speaks, they call them names and they call them liar," Kamal Al-Khatib, of the American Islamic Institute of Antelop Valley, said.
Robin Hvidst, a member of We The People Rising, who took the video, said the group came to the forum to observe and get information, but people there said that was not what happened.
"They were literally terrorizing the folks that were attending that candidate forum," Fayaz Nawabi, policy and advocacy manager at CAIR-LA, said.
They said some of the people even threatened to pull off women's hijabs.
"And they tried to remove the hijabs from two of our ladies, and this is a hate crime when you do that," Al-Khatib said.
Hvisdt said she was unaware of any of those threats, but the forum got so out of hand that the sheriff's department was called in.
"They told us that, you know, it's best if we shut down the event because we don't want any violence to take place, which we agree, we don't want anyone to get hurt," Nawabi said.
Nawabi and Al-Khatib said they have filed a complaint and believe that a hate crime occurred.