--- description: A woman sued six Chicago police officers and the city of Chicago for religious discrimination for pulling off a hijab when she was arrested title: Muslim Woman Sues Chicago Police for Ripping Off Her Hijab image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Muslim Woman Sues Chicago Police for Ripping Off Her Hijab by [Rosalie Chan](/author/rosalie-chan/) ## Rosalie Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 11, 2016 5:29 PM CUT by [Rosalie Chan](/author/rosalie-chan/) ## Rosalie Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 11, 2016 5:29 PM CUT A Muslim woman sued six Chicago police officers and the city of Chicago for religious discrimination for [pulling off her hijab](http://time.com/4336356/man-pleads-guilty-hijab-airplane/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") when she was arrested in a CTA stairwell. Itemid “Angel” Al Matar filed her federal lawsuit Thursday. She claims she was falsely arrested on July 4, during Ramadan, when she was trying to catch a train to return home and break her fast by sunset. [A YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cgmo-t-L7I "undefined") of the incident shows officers tackling Al Matar while she climbed up the stairs. Al Matar says police grabbed her, “pulling at her and ripping off her [hijab](http://time.com/4433043/team-usa-should-pick-ibtihaj-muhammad-as-flagbearer-in-rio/?iid=sr-link5 "undefined"),” [the Chicago _Sun-Times_ reports](http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/muslim-woman-sues-police-for-pulling-off-hijab-during-arrest/ "undefined"). According to CAIR-Chicago, police also verbally taunted her and publicly stripped her to her underwear while she was handcuffed on the ground. Al Matar spent the night in a jail cell and was charged of multiple criminal charges including resisting arrest and reckless misconduct. She was later found not guilty. “This unprovoked violence and unlawful behavior by members of [Chicago Police Department](http://time.com/chicago-police-3/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") comes at a time of both heightened Islamophobia and a continued history of institutionalized police violence and malicious prosecution based on race, religion, or other identity-based factors,” CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab [said in a statement](https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational/posts/10153973860702695 "undefined"). “That someone would be subjected to this wanton abuse is intolerable.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4448701/muslim-woman-chicago-police-hijab/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4448701/muslim-woman-chicago-police-hijab/"},"headline":"Muslim Woman Sues Chicago Police for Ripping Off Her Hijab","datePublished":"2016-08-11T17:29:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:35:23.820Z","description":"She is suing for religious discrimination","url":"https://time.com/4448701/muslim-woman-chicago-police-hijab/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Transportation","Law","Civil Rights","faith","Illinois","justice","People","local"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rosalie Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rosalie-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4448701/muslim-woman-chicago-police-hijab/","name":"Muslim Woman Sues Chicago Police for Ripping Off Her Hijab"}}]}] ```