Video shows Arizona State University police officers removing a protester’s hood while being arrested

Video shows Arizona State University police officers removing a protester’s hood while being arrested

Video taken over the weekend at Arizona State University shows a campus police officer removing a hood from the head of a protester during his arrest.

The blurry video, obtained by Mass Liberation AZ and provided to CNN by attorney Zayed Al-Sayyed, who is representing the woman, shows several ASU Police Department officers surrounding a woman whose hands are held behind her back as one of the officers removes her veil.

People nearby can be heard yelling, “You’re violating her privacy,” and “Give it back.”
The officers then pulled the woman’s hood over her head and bystanders shouted, “So she can wear the hood but not the veil?” At one point one of the officers blocked the woman from the view of those taking the video, as someone yelled, “let her go!”

A lawyer representing her and three other women who say it happened to them are demanding accountability.

Al-Sayyed, who said the arrests occurred early Saturday, did not identify the women but indicated that three of them were university students and all four were residents of the Phoenix area. They face charges of criminal trespass.

After being arrested, Al-Sayyed said, the women explained the importance of the hijab and “begged” to keep their hijabs, but he said they were told that their hijabs had to be removed for safety reasons.

“They never expected that an officer … sworn to protect and serve would violate their fundamental rights protected under the United States Constitution, which is the right to practice their religion. So they were injured,” said Al-Sayyed.
After being arrested and sent to prison, the women were not given back their veils, Al-Sayyed said.

About 15 hours later, when he was finally granted access to his customers, Al-Sayyed said he was able to bring them new hijabs.

The Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ) condemned the university police for the videotaped incident and others like it and called for a full investigation.

“This act represents a blatant violation of the religious freedom of peaceful protesters. It is very sad for the women affected, and ASU Police must conduct a thorough investigation into this matter,” said Azza Abuseif, executive director of CAIR-AZ, in an email to CNN.
In a statement to CNN, the university said, “This matter is under review.” CNN has reached out to the Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office for comment.