Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| HOUSTON--- A Muslim woman killed (discriminatory actions cited) |
|---|
| bhaloo |
| 08/23/01 at 01:27:31 |
| slm HOUSTON -- A Muslim grandmother was killed as a result of seizure due to discriminatory and biased accusations of Albertson staff and security personal. The incident happened at about 10 p.m. Tuesday August 22nd 2001 at the Albertson's grocery store located near the intersection of Antoine Drive and West Tidwell Road in northwest Houston, Texas. Investigators told Channel 2 Houston an NBC affiliate that Shamim Siddiqi, 53, apparently suffered a seizure shortly after being taken into the store's front office on false accusation of stealing by an off-duty Harris County sheriff's deputy, who was moon lighting as a security guard. A store customer said that she witnessed Siddiqi asking for help. "The deputy came and told her to walk back in the store," witnesses Anita Gardener said. "At that time, she was hyperventilating and she was panting and she was asking for medical attention." Unfortunately, the biased off duty Police Officer and insensitive store staff accused her of acting and waited till it was too late. Gardener said that she saw the entire interaction and worries that more could have been done to save Siddiqi's life. "I saw the store clerk saying, 'Oh look at her, her faking it. She could be an actress and she's just acting the part,'" Gardener said. "But I didn't know that she would soon be deceased." One of Siddiqi's loved ones collapsed in the store parking lot, after learning that she had died while in the deputy's custody. "She's never been in a situation like this, so she's going to panic," the woman's nephew Danny Shaikh said. "She's old as a grandmother and you treat her like a criminal, of course she's going to panic. She had a heart attack." Police said that Siddiqi didn't take anything out of the store as she was still shopping however she they admitted that she was falsely taken into custody as she offered translation assistance for two other Muslim women who the deputy was having an issue with. The President of Pakistan Association of Greater Houston Masroor Khan made a general appeal on Television and Radio to the Muslim community of Houston to take a strong note of this racial and malicious act of Sheriff's deputy and Albertson, and boycott Albertson. The President of Islamic Society of Greater Houston could not be reached at this late hour for a comment. It can only be speculated that the Mayor of Houston Mayor Lee P. Brown would be addressing the 180,000 strong Muslim community of Greater Houston where there are more than 60 mosques, 11 full time Islamic schools, and 4 non-profit IT training centers run by the Islamic Society. The fact that the Muslim community plays a strong role in the Houston's civic and commercial life will have a strong bearing on this incident, almost 80% of Houston's convenience stores and gas stations are owned by Muslims where the government generates $0.38 per gallon sold and earns hundreds of millions in sales tax revenues. Investigators said that they will be examining surveillance cameras to help them explain exactly how Siddiqi died. Albertson's Inc. officials in Idaho said that they are checking police and employee incident reports to find out if store policies were followed. If the store policies were followed it would clearly indicate that Albertson staff lacks sensitivity towards senior citizens and immigrants, and hold racial prejudice against Muslims as a store mandated policy. |
| Re: HOUSTON--- A Muslim woman killed (discriminatory actions cited) |
|---|
| Saleema |
| 08/23/01 at 21:41:22 |
| [slm] Oh man, you don't know the whole story... It's so sad. :( We are going to protest in front of Albertson's inshallah. The other two women were stealing. And they were taken to jail. They showed them getting into the police car on TV. They are daughter and mother. They don't live too far away from where I live. Anyway, the woman who died, May Allah forgive her and giver her Jannah, her name was Shameem and her funeral is tomorrow at the Norht Zone masjid. [wlm] Saleema |
| Re: HOUSTON--- A Muslim woman killed (discriminatory actions cited) |
|---|
| bhaloo |
| 08/23/01 at 23:58:51 |
| slm I checked with one brother out in Houston and he sent me this new update below. He also said about the 2 women that were caught, that they are only be held on SUSPICION of shoplifting and there is no proof yet as to what they did or didn't do. So we shouldn't judge them yet. Also, he has gone ahead and contacted CAIR. [url] http://www.click2houston.com/hou/news/stories/news-93139520010823-150822.html [/url] Pakistani Community Seeks Justice In Woman's Death Husband, Group Meets With District Attorney's Office Posted: 3:39 p.m. CDT August 23, 2001 Updated: 4:20 p.m. CDT August 23, 2001 HOUSTON -- The unusual circumstances surrounding the death of a woman who was in an officer's custody forced her family and members of the Pakistani community to take action. Shamim Siddiqi, who was accused of assisting shoplifters, died while in custody late Tuesday night at an Albertson's grocery store located near the intersection of Antoine Drive and West Tidwell Road in northwest Houston . "I just want justice, that's all," her husband Munir Siddiqi said. Her husband joined with leaders of the Pakistani community to speak with the district attorney's office. "We just wanted to find out what the various options the D.A. is considering," said Masrur Khan, who is head of the Pakistani Association of Greater Houston. "We want him to take full action against those people responsible for the death of Shamim Siddiqi. That's what we are here to find out." "If you know that somebody is dying and you can provide the medical aid within time, and you don't want to provide it, you can call (that) murder," Munir Suddiqi said. Investigators said that Siddiqi, 52, apparently suffered a seizure shortly after being taken into the store's front office on suspicion of stealing by an off-duty Harris County sheriff's deputy, who was working as a security guard. The deputy called for help and initiated CPR, but when paramedics arrived they were unable to revive Siddiqi. A witness told News2Houston that before Siddiqi died she tried to ask for help, but was instead accused of faking her illness. |
Individual posts do not necessarily reflect the views of Jannah.org, Islam, or all Muslims. All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the poster and may not be used without consent of the author.The rest © Jannah.Org |