Local leaders in the Muslim community are urging two women to pursue charges against a man who verbally assaulted them at Wal Mart on Sunday.
But, investigators are not considering this to be a hate crime, yet.
General Secretary of the Islamic Society of Eastern Idaho Daniel Hummel said the two women were sought-after by the man who apparently has a longstanding history of anger toward the Muslim community.
“He was telling them to get out of his country, ‘you don’t belong, terrorists.’ It kept coming up, and it scared them,” Hummel said, noting the women tried to get away from the man before the store managers were called to intervene.
The Chubbuck Police Department also stepped-in, but the women decided to not pursue any legal charges against the men at that time.
Chubbuck Police Dept.’s Lieutenant Bill Guiberson said, as much as hateful words can be harmful, legally this case was not considered a hate crime under Idaho law.
“As a police officer, we are sworn to protect the Constitution of the United States,” Guiberson said. “That’s one thing that is very serious to us, and in this situation, whether we agree with one or either party, they each had their protected rights.”
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