Muslim community suggests Olive Garden attack on Black woman was motivated by hate
'Leaders will be convening to raise their outrage and concerns,' Manitoba Islamic Association says
The stabbing of a Black Muslim woman working at a Winnipeg Olive Garden restaurant last month must be further investigated as a targeted hate crime, members of Manitoba's Islamic community say.
"Today, every leading Muslim organization in Winnipeg is gathering in solidarity with one of our own. She is a young woman who was just about to graduate high school this June when she was attacked," Aasiyah Khan, acting CEO for the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said at a news conference Tuesday.
"Make no mistake, we could have been coming to a funeral today."
The 18-year-old woman was rushed to hospital in unstable condition on the evening of June 8 after a man repeatedly stabbed her inside the restaurant at the corner of Reenders Drive and Lagimodiere Boulevard.
The woman, whom police have not named, received emergency medical aid from bystanders before officers arrived. She was rushed to hospital in unstable condition and later upgraded to stable.
Police allege Robert Alan Ingram, 27, went after her without provocation in a random attack. He is charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon and failing to comply with a probation order.
The Islamic community, however, doesn't believe it was random and wants a more comprehensive investigation "as to whether it was targeted or potentially hate motivated," Khan said.
She read a statement from the woman, a member of the Somali community who wants to remain anonymous. The woman said no one else in the restaurant was a visible minority or wearing hijab.
"But I was. And he was staring at me," she said in the statement.
The woman estimates he watched her intently for half an hour before he left for a brief time.
When he returned, her back was turned to other customers. The man stabbed her in the neck, the torso and arms before she was able to strike back at him, making him stagger, and then bystanders intervened.
WATCH | Muslim community questions police investigation:
The woman was in hospital and unable to give police a full statement when she learned they had already characterized the attack as random.
"He didn't go on a random stabbing spree," she said in the statement. "He went straight for me. I know I could have died."
Khan wants to know why police reached a conclusion before getting the full statement from the victim and why a charge of aggravated assault was laid "when it was clearly attempted murder."
She said the Islamic community has had conversations with the Winnipeg Police Service but are standing by their request.
A police spokesperson, in an email to CBC News, said, "We have nothing new to provide on this incident."
Youcef Soufi, a professor whose research specializes in Islamophobia and who served as a spokesperson for the Manitoba Islamic Association on Tuesday, called on non-Muslims to show support for the community.
"It sends a clear message that Muslims aren't alone, that we all stand together sharing in each other's pain and in the mutual desire to forge a society free of prejudice and violence against the members of any community," he said.
Police chief comments
Speaking at a different news conference Tuesday afternoon in Portage la Prairie, Winnipeg police Chief Danny Smyth said he wanted to make it clear police don't believe the woman and Ingram knew each other at all.
He said police also had the opportunity to meet with the family and the organization that held the news conference Tuesday to walk through some of their findings.
"There is no evidence that supports it being motivated by a hate crime," Smyth said during the press conference. "That being said, this is a very serious crime, the individual was charged with aggravated assault, which is a very serious charge. People go to jail for that kind of thing."
"I certainly stand in support of the Muslim community. I acknowledge their concerns and we addressed their concerns privately yesterday."
Smyth added that while police "have the ability to change charges if the evidence is there," he's satisfied that the investigators in the case did a thorough job and "addressed the concerns that were raised privately."
'We need answers'
Abdikheir Ahmed, who has worked with immigrant and refugee communities in Winnipeg in various capacities, said he put great effort into build trusting relationships between police and newcomer communities of colour, but at times like this, those efforts are tested, he said.
"We need justice for this victim. At the basic minimum, we need answers," Ahmed said. "I was appalled, and my community was equally appalled, by the haste with which the police reached a conclusion.
"When someone drives a knife on your neck, aimed at your jugular, [and] punctures your lungs and attacks you as the only person of colour in that restaurant … you cannot come down to the possibility of this being a random attack.
"We need to do better."
Politicians, including NDP MP Leah Gazan, Liberal MP Terry Duguid and Progressive Conservative MP Obby Khan, also spoke at the news conference.
Gazan and Duguid echoed the call for a deeper look into the attack as well as Soufi's call for unity.
"We must not minimize what occurred as just a random act," Gazan said.
WATCH | Aasiyah Khan reads a statement from the woman who was attacked:
Added Duguid: "This act of violence at the Olive Garden on June 8 has all the hallmarks of an act of hate."
Obby Khan would not speak to the specifics of the case, saying it's before the judicial system, but offered his prayers and condolences to the victim's family.
Winnipeg city Coun. Brian Mayes, who was also at the news conference, said council does not direct police work, but offered to raise the issue with Coun. Markus Chambers, who chairs the police board, and Mayor Scott Gillingham, who sits on the board.
"And certainly get some briefing on what has happened and what the reasons were behind the decisions made by the police."
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
