Defendant Charges Police Insensitivity To Religious Garb

In Rolling Meadows, Illinois, this week's guilty plea to a misdemeanor battery charge by a Muslim woman brought to an end a disputed encounter between a demonstrator and police, according to Wednesday's Muslim News. Last October 15, Rehana Kahn was arrested while taking part in an immigration rights demonstration. Kahn's version of events is that police rudely ordered her to remove her hijab (headscarf), ignoring her religious concerns. The police version is that while a female officer was searching Kahn, her hijab slipped down 2 or 3 inches, and that Kahn then physically hit 3 different officers. While the battery charge could have led to a year in jail, the judge sentenced Kahn, and 3 co-defendants, to 240 hours of community service and a year of court supervision.