TEMPE, AZ (AZ Family) – He US Department of Justice is now investigating the Arizona State University (ASU) Police Department and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) for the arrest of four women who say officers forcibly removed their hijabs.

Your lawyer, Zayed Al-SayyedHe said the incident occurred in April after a pro-Palestine protest on the Tempe campus.

“We are happy that there are checks and balances. We are glad that there is federal oversight over local law enforcement to ensure that local police and state police continue to respect people’s constitutional rights,” Al-Sayyed said.

In April, the Arizona family received Cell phone video from the Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ) showing a woman surrounded by at least four officers.

Al-Sayyed said the officers forcibly removed her hijab and did the same to three other women he also represents.

This month, Al-Sayyed received a letter from the Department of Justice informing him of the investigation into ASU and MCSO for possible religious discrimination.

“Even if someone is arrested, they still have constitutional protections and one of them is that they have the right to practice their religion and respect their most serious beliefs,” Al-Sayyed said.

He said his clients, three of them ASU students, did not get their religious garments back for more than 12 hours after they were booked into jail.

Al-Sayyed explained that for Muslim women, removing their hijab is the same as officers stripping them down to their underwear and searching them in public.

“The authorities should have taken the time to search them in a reasonable manner,” he said.

ASU and MCSO said they are cooperating with the Department of Justice and believe the officers did nothing wrong.

CAIR-AZ also submitted a written response to the Justice Department’s investigation.

“It is a very diverse community. It’s interesting to me that law enforcement still doesn’t know how to handle arrests involving religious clothing,” Al-Sayyed said.

Al-Sayyed said the Justice Department’s investigation could take a couple of years, as did the Phoenix Police Department’s investigation.

He said criminal charges against his clients are still pending. His arraignment is scheduled for next week.

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