All that race-baiting over the mosque being built several blocks from Ground Zero isn’t just talk — it’s having a real-world effect on the ground.
Ahmed Sharif, a practicing Muslim who drives a cab in NYC, picked up a passenger Monday night. His passenger was Michael Enright, a 21 year old White male who was later described by police as highly intoxicated. Here’s an account of what happened next:
Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, said the cabbie who was attacked is Ahmed H. Sharif, 43, a practicing Muslim.
When he first got into the taxi Tuesday night, Desai said, Enright engaged in cordial conversation with Sharif.
He “started out friendly, asking Mr. Sharif about where he was from, how long he had been in America, if he was Muslim and if he was observing fast during Ramadan,” said Desai, who has spoken with the cab driver.
Then, after a few minutes of silence, Desai said Enright started violently cursing at Sharif and shouted “Assalamu Alaikum, consider this a checkpoint,” before slashing him in the throat, arms, and hand.
Though gushing blood, Sharif was able to escape and quickly flagged a police officer, who apprehended Enright, Desai said. Police said the suspect was highly intoxicated.
Nell said Enright has been charged with attempted murder in the second degree as a hate crime, assault in the second degree as a hate crime, aggravated harassment in the second degree as a hate crime, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
Sharif, a father of four who immigrated to the United States from Bangladesh 25 years ago, has been driving a cab for more than 15 years, according to a statement from the New York Taxi Workers Alliance.
This episode is inexcusable, and it’s also downright un-American.
“This kind of bigotry only breeds more violence and makes taxi drivers all the more vulnerable on the streets where there are no bully pulpits or podiums to hide behind,” Desai told CNN.
Blaming Muslims for 9/11 is like blaming Koreans for Seung-Hui Cho and blaming Whites for Oklahoma City. No person — let alone an American citizen — should fear for his life in America just based on the colour of his skin.
