Muslim woman running state office in Ohio receives threatening phone calls

Rasa - Cathina Hourani, believed to be the first Muslim woman to run for office at the state level in Ohio, reported receiving threatening phone calls this week after a story about her candidacy ran in the Journal News on Wednesday.

News ID: 1424

Date: 19 October 2014 - 00:18

RNA - The Cincinnati chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization is urging law enforcement to investigate threats made against a Muslim Ohio House candidate running in Butler County.

Cathina Hourani, believed to be the first Muslim woman to run for office at the state level in Ohio, reported receiving threatening phone calls this week after a story about her candidacy ran in the Journal News on Wednesday. She reported the threats to law enforcement, said the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

The online story about Hourani contains 15 public comments, but 12 were deleted for containing offensive content. According to CAIR, one comment said in part, “don’t elect a Muslim SOB, you should start shooting them!”

“Threats targeting a candidate for public office based on her faith are very disturbing and should be of concern to all Americans,” said Karen Dabdoub, executive director of CAIR-Cincinnati. “ We believe the rising level of bigotry targeting Muslims in our nation is a direct result of the Islamophobia industry pumping out this type of hatred on a daily basis.”

Hourani, a Democrat, is challenging Republican Rep. Margaret Conditt in the 52 nd District in southeastern Butler County.

In the Journal News story, Hourani says that while she and a team of volunteers were knocking on doors in what is standard campaign practice for a legislative candidate, a resident called police after he told her to leave the neighborhood but she refused. When the police arrived, she told the paper that she left peacefully.

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