PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A new lawsuit filed against the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office claims that the officers “forcibly” removed hijabs from two Muslim women and photographed them without the head coverings while in custody.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), claims that sisters Serine Abuelhawa and Marjannah Hassan were arrested during a protest at the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade in 2024.
After their arrests, the lawsuit claims the sisters were taken to the Multnomah County Detention Center, where they were separated and, during booking, were forced to remove their religious headscarves in front of male officers.
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When recounting their arrest experiences, Abuelhawa and Hassan shared similar experiences of officers lifting clothing revealing their skin and hair against their wishes, and both shared feelings of being violated by the officers, according to the lawsuit…