America right now is filled with racism toward immigrants, especially with the violent arrests made by ICE. It seems, however, that there is Islamophobia as well. Problematic cops in Pennsylvania sent a bizarre letter to residents, in which they made several weird claims. In a letter sent by the Hopewell police, they started reporting that there were incidents where males who appeared to be either Middle Eastern or Hispanic were involved. They then mention the places where these incidents took place. So far, the letter seems to be normal, but it starts to get Islamophobic in the rest of it. The first thing they mentioned was that a Middle Eastern man claimed that he was from Israel and was looking for a new mosque. Now, what’s the problem with that? This guy is accused of leaving an electric bicycle battery.
The Islamophobia continued as the letter progressed. Another incident reported was about four males in hijabs. How is this even possible? Like, why would you believe someone saying that they saw Muslim MEN in hijabs? That’s an insult in itself. It’s not just that, but their offense is also weird. They were reported to have been driving slowly in a silver sedan with their phones up. The Pennsylvania police then guessed that they were taking pictures. How is this an offense? Like even if they were taking pictures, there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, the only pictures I want to see right now are ones where I can actually find men in hijabs walking in the streets of Pennsylvania.
People Reacting to the Pennsylvania Cops’ Islamophobic Letter
OP and I weren’t the only ones who found the Pennsylvania cops’ letter to be terrible. OP even described it as a “heinous letter.” Another person was weirded out by some of the details mentioned as they asked in disbelief, “‘four males in hijabs’ ????” This made someone reply by suggesting, “Muslim drag queens maybe?” A great comment added to this delightful conversation as it said, “my fav Muslim drag queen is Haram Bae.” That’s actually a great drag name. On the other hand, several people focused on the clear racism shown in the letter. “And they were either middle eastern OR Hispanic. This is wild,” one person wrote. This made another person say, “All they know is ‘brown’.”
The Pennsylvania police didn’t just stop at sending this letter to churches. They also posted it on Facebook. “They also just posted it on Facebook, didn’t send out an actual letter. I live in Hopewell and when I saw this post checked my mailbox, nothing. The whole thing reads like brainrot. And the comments on FB are locked, of course, because people were calling them out,” one person shared. One Redditor even pointed out the double standards in this situation. “I too have driven slowly by something with my phone camera up and have sat in parking lots. But don’t worry folks, I’m a white guy,” they wrote. He has got a point, but I still want to see these Muslim men in hijabs.
