- MEDIA ADVISORY -

Sacramento Leaders to React to Shooting of Calif. Sikhs

CAIR-SV offers $5K reward for information leading to arrest, conviction of perpetrators

(SACRAMENTO, CA, 3/6/11) - On Monday, March 7, the Sacramento Valley office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV), leaders of the Sikh community, the Interfaith Service Bureau, and local Sacramento civil rights leaders will hold a press conference in response to the recent shooting of two Sikh men in Elk Grove, Calif.

WHAT: Press Conference on Local Reactions to Shooting of Sikhs

WHEN: Monday, March 7th, 10 a.m. (Pacific)

WHERE: Sikh Temple Sacramento

2301 Evergreen Avenue, West Sacramento, CA

CONTACT: CAIR-SV Executive Director Basim Elkarra, 916-289-3748, E-Mail: belkarra@cair.com; Sikh Temple Sacramento Public Affairs Director Darshan Mundy, 916-417-8860

CAIR-SV today offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals who gunned down the two elderly Sikh men on Friday in Elk Grove, Calif. One of the men died at the scene of the shooting, while the other remains hospitalized in critical condition.

SEE: Muslim Civil Rights Group Offers Reward for Info on Gunman in Deadly Shooting

http://tinyurl.com/49uz8ey 

CAIR: Muslim Organization Offers Reward

http://tinyurl.com/4ky7tz5 

Reward Offered for Info in Shooting of 2 Sikh Men (AP)

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_17551801 

The two men, one age 65 and the other age 78, were gunned down while walking through their neighborhood. Both wore traditional Sikh beards and turbans. Local police say that while there is no evidence suggesting that hate was a motive for the shootings, no evidence points to an alternative motive. A possible bias motive is under investigation.

Elk Grove Police Chief Robert Lehner said in a statement: "We have no evidence to indicate there was a hate or bias motivation for this crime; however, the obvious Sikh appearance of the men, including the traditional Dastar headwear and lack of any other apparent motive, increasingly raise that possibility."

SEE: Attack on Two Sikh Men Seen as Possible Hate Crime (Sac Bee)

http://tinyurl.com/5vjjt85 

"The Muslim community offers its condolences and support to the Sikh community in this time of sorrow," said CAIR-SV Executive Director Basim Elkarra. "We will offer a $5,000 reward to anyone who comes forward with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators."

Elkarra noted that Sikh men in beards and turbans are often targeted for discrimination by bigots who mistake them for Muslims.

Last fall, CAIR-SV called for an FBI investigation of an attack on a Sikh cab driver in West Sacramento. The driver said passengers made anti-Muslim remarks during the attack. Two men were later arrested on charges of felony assault and commission of a hate crime.

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

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CONTACT: CAIR-SV Executive Director Basim Elkarra, 916-289-3748, E-Mail: belkarra@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, or 202-488-8787, E-Mail:ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171,  

E-Mail: arubin@cair.com 

CAIR-LA, ACLU/SC Sue FBI for Illegal Surveillance of Southern Calif. Muslims

Suit filed over broad surveillance of Muslims based solely on religion   

(LOS ANGELES, CA, 2/23/11)

-- The Council on American-Islamic Relations of the Greater Los Angeles Area (CAIR-LA), the ACLU of Southern California (ACLU/SC), and the law firm Hadsell Stormer Keeny Richardson & Renick LLP today announced that they have filed a federal class action lawsuit against the FBI for infiltrating mainstream mosques in Southern California and targeting Muslim Americans for surveillance solely because of their religion.

For over 14 months between 2006 and 2007, FBI agents planted an informant in Orange County mosques who posed as a convert to Islam and through whom the FBI collected names, telephone numbers, e-mails, and other information on hundreds of California Muslims. Sheikh Yassir Fazaga, Ali Malik, and Yassir AbdelRahim - plaintiffs in the case-are three of the many individuals who came in contact with the bureau's informant.

SEE: Lawsuit Alleges FBI Violated Muslims' Freedom of Religion (Washington Post)

SEE: Local Muslims Outraged by alleged FBI Surveillance, Lawyers claim

(LA Times)

According to the lawsuit, the FBI directed the informant, a convicted felon named Craig Monteilh, to gather as much information as possible on members of the Muslim community, and to focus on people who were more devout in their religious practice, irrespective of whether any particular individual was believed to be involved in criminal activity. 

"The FBI gathered information on hundreds of innocent Americans simply because they worship at a mosque. It's hard to imagine a more blatant violation of the First Amendment's guarantees against religious discrimination," said Peter Bibring, Staff Attorney for the ACLU of Southern California (ACLU/SC).

The First Amendment guarantees that no person should be singled out for different treatment by the government because of his or her religion, which is exactly what the FBI did to the Muslim community, according to the suit. 

Ameena Mirza Qazi, Deputy Executive Director and Staff Attorney for CAIR-LA, said:  "Targeting American Muslims for surveillance not only destroys community cohesion, it erodes the trust between law enforcement and Muslim communities, which, in turn, undermines our national security interests. This broad investigation by the FBI that failed to produce even a single terrorism-related conviction was not based on suspicion of criminal activity, but rather on the targets being Muslim."

Montheilh's role as an FBI informant was not revealed until February 2009, first in court documents, in which the FBI and local law enforcement revealed his role, and then through his own statements which have been reported widely in the press.

Josh Piovia-Scott, an attorney with the law firm Hadsell Stormer Keeny Richardson & Renick LLP said, "This practice is an abuse of the Constitution, and this case will force the FBI to destroy its illegally obtained information."        

The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief on behalf of all people targeted by the FBI agents and their informant, requiring the FBI to turn over or destroy all information collected through the discriminatory investigation, as well as damages for emotional distress for the three named plaintiffs.    

There are approximately 120,000 Muslims in Orange County, a dynamic part of the Southern California Muslim community, which is home to the second largest population of Muslims in the United States.

 
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CONTACT: CAIR-LA Communications Manager Munira Syeda, 714-776-1847 or 714-851-4851, E-mail: info@losangeles.cair.com