SEATTLE, WA – The Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA) today reported that a Seattle man who allegedly threatened a Muslim cashier in late December has been charged under that state’s hate crime statute.

CAIR-WA said the alleged assailant reportedly told a Muslim clerk at a Seattle grocery store that he would kill her if she did not leave America. According to Seattle police, the alleged assailant said, “This is f**king America, why are you here?” to the victim who, according to the police report, wears an Islamic head scarf. Media reports indicate the victim’s name is “common to the Middle East and North Africa.”

The alleged perpetrator, who was charged with the hate crime of malicious harassment, reportedly told the cashier he would “get her” at the end of her shift. A “bias code” of “anti-Islamic” is noted in the police report (Case 2010-442897).

“We thank the Seattle Police Department for recognizing the seriousness of the apparent bias motive in this case and for bringing appropriate hate crime charges,” said CAIR-WA Executive Director Arsalan Bukhari.

Bukhari said he will notify the local FBI office of the incident and ask the agency to investigate as a possible federal hate crime.

Last month, CAIR-WA called for a hate crime investigation into the harassment of a Muslim woman in Oregon. In October, CAIR-WA dealt with an incident in which two Muslim women of Somali heritage were allegedly verbally and physically assaulted at a gas station in Tukwila, Wash. One of the women reported being called a “terrorist” and a “suicide bomber,” and was allegedly told to “go back to [her] f**king country.”

Bukhari noted that CAIR recently called on state and federal law enforcement authorities to bring hate crime charges against an Idaho man who allegedly threatened a Muslim woman while she was shopping at a Walmart in that state.

CAIR also called on the FBI to investigate an apparently bias-motivated attack on a Muslim woman outside an Ohio mosque in December, while CAIR’s Michigan office reported that mosques, Islamic centers and Muslim organizations in that state have been receiving hate mail. Similar anti-Muslim hate mail was received by an Ohio mosque.

CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.