A Muslim woman has been awarded $85,000 after an officer forcibly removed her hijab, or headscarf, when she was in police custody in Long Beach, California
Kirsty Powell. PIC courtesy/CAIR
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A Muslim woman has been awarded $85,000 after an officer forcibly removed her hijab, or headscarf, when she was in police custody in Long Beach, California.
Kirsty Powell was stopped by police officers with her husband in 2015 as he was driving a lowrider vehicle. She then filed a lawsuit in 2016 alleging the police department had violated her rights and the settlement was approved this week and is to be paid by the local municipal authority.
The lawsuit states Powell was "forced to appear in a publicly available booking photo without her religious headwear, as a result of the foregoing deprivations of the free exercise of her religion, Kirsty Powell suffered severe discomfort, humiliation, and emotional distress."