A man has been arrested and charged for attacking Rep. Maryam Khan (D, CT-5) after she attended an Eid al-Adha service with her family in Hartford, Connecticut, on Wednesday morning.
NEW YORK ( Web News )
A Pakistan-born woman member of the House of Representatives of the US state of Connecticut was attacked after she came out of a hall after offering Eidul Adha prayers with her family this week in the state’s capital city of Hartford, it emerged on Saturday.
Maryam Khan, who is the first Muslim member of the Connecticut House of Representatives and only the second elected to the state’s General Assembly behind Senator Saud Anwar, her three children, and her sister were approached by a man.
Speaking to the Connecticut branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Khan said the attacker, identified as 30-year-old Andrey Desmond, approached her at Hartford’s XL Center after the Wednesday service.
CAIR-CT noted that Khan was with her sister, three children — her 15-year-old daughter, her 10-year-old daughter and her 12-year-old son — and a female friend at the time.
Desmond made obscene remarks before grabbing Khan, hitting her and throwing her to the ground, Khan told CAIR-CT.
The man reportedly tried to flee the scene, but a bystander chased him and held him down him until the police came.
Hartford Police noted that Desmond attacked a public figure without specifically naming Khan. Desmond was found near the crime scene around the area of Trumbull and Chapel streets.
Desmond is now facing second-degree unlawful restraint, third-degree assault, second-degree breach of peace and interfering with police charges.
In a statement, CAIR-CT Chair Farhan Memon urged local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to look into the attack on Khan and to ensure the safety of the Muslim community in Connecticut during Eid al-Adha celebrations.
“All too often we have seen American Muslims, or those perceived to be Muslim, targeted by hate because of their attire, race or ethnicity,” Memon added.
Connecticut House Speaker Matt Ritter and House Majority Leader Jason Rojas acknowledged the incident in a joint statement, noting that the State Capitol Police have assured them they are working with Hartford Police to “conduct a full and thorough investigation.”