I am actually so angry right now I’m crying.
Hakima Benaddi, a Florida woman who was wearing a hijab at the time, was accused by Domino’s Pizza management of threatening to blow up the location after she complained about the service and pizza she received. On July 27, 2012, a pregnant Benaddi went to Domino’s to order a veggie pizza with her 23-month-old daughter. When Benaddi opened her pizza box she discovered that it was grossly inadequate and returned to complain and seek a refund.
“I was surprised because what I got was nothing like my order,” Benaddi explained. “That pizza was barely suitable to feed to a dog.”
Prior to the incident, Benaddi was a regular customer at the location. There was one small difference, however, on the day of the incident Benaddi had recently started covering her hair by wearing the hijab, the Muslim head scarf.
The Domino’s Pizza did not assist Benaddi when she returned, they did not offer to make her a new pizza or offer her a refund. Instead, the cashier laughed at her and mocked her limited English proficiency.
Then, in what could only be described as a brazen discriminatory act, the Domino’s Pizza management called local police claiming that Benaddi had someone with her with a bomb remote and threatened to blow up the location resulting in Benaddi’s arrest.
Benaddi was in custody for over 24 hours before she was released. She was also forced to remove her headscarf before her booking image was taken.
CAIR Florida’s investigator revealed that eyewitness accounts were consistent with that of Benaddi’s and admitting that Benaddi never made any threats other than to file a complaint. The story the Domino’s Pizza’s manager provided to the police was completely, intentionally and maliciously fabricated.
Although the felony charge against Hakima was dropped before the arraignment, Domino’s Pizza has yet to confirm any wrongdoing.
“Without them acknowledging what they did wrong, this is our only opportunity for her voice to be heard,” said Thania Diaz Clevenger, Civil Rights Director of CAIR Florida. “We need to tell people that this is not okay, to let Domino’s Pizza know this is not okay, and to let other Muslim women who are targeted to know that they can stand up for themselves.”
“I can’t find a job. They see my record and see a terrorist. How will my kids feel, when they grow up and see their mothers mugshot. Now I’m scared to talk to any person, I have to bring a recorder with me everywhere. After seeing what one person can do when they make up a story…I can go to jail for life just because someone wants to lie and make up a story to against me.” says Hakima Benaddi.
Guys I’m so angry right now YOU HAVE NO IDEA. I’m angry because this woman reminds me of my mother. My mother has the same accent, my mother wears the hijab, my mother is outspoken when she is being mistreated. ALL OF THESE THINGS THAT RESULTED IN THIS WOMANS ARREST. They saw a muslim woman and took that opportunity to treat her as if she was a trash. And when she spoke up about it and they didn’t like it, they called the police on her and decided to throw the “terrorist” label around. They had this woman arrested, her mugshot on the internet (without her hijab) and had “terrorist threat” on her record. They went out of their way to ruin this woman’s life because they mistreated her based on simply wearing a hijab and didn’t like that she stood up for herself.
This is what its like to be a muslim in America. This is how easy it is to ruin ones life by labeling us terrorists.
THIS COULD’VE BEEN MY MOTHER. THIS COULD’VE BEEN YOURS.
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