Muslim Woman Sues Chicago, Police For Religious Profiling

Muslim Woman Sues Chicago, Police For Religious Profiling

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

A Muslim woman says several police officers assaulted and arrested her last year simply because she was wearing religious garb. 

Itemid Al Matar, a 32-year-old woman from Saudi Arabia, was arrested while exiting the State/Lake CTA red line station on July 4th last year. Police claimed that she looked suspicious with objects around her ankles, which turned out to be ankle weights, and her face covered. Al Matar wears the niqab, a cloth face covering that some conservative Muslim women wear. 

She was found not guilty of those charges and has now filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the officers and the City of Chicago.

Odette Yousef is a WBEZ reporter. Follow her @oyousef and @WBEZoutloud.