After the Boston Marathon bombings, some Muslims went out of their way to demonstrate they were law-abiding citizens. As recently as April, the Islamic Society of Boston held an event to build relationships with media and thank interfaith and law enforcement partners.
But the Islamic Society also opted out last year when the government rolled out a program to increase outreach to Muslim communities in Boston and two other cities. Several Muslim groups declined to participate because they felt like they were being singled out, even if it was in a friendly way.
This week, many members of the local and national Muslim community are reacting with concern to the death of Usaama Rahim and the arrest of David Wright, questioning law enforcement’s actions and asking for more information about what happened.
Some Muslims are also bracing for backlash and more scrutiny.
"This could be another source of tension and fear of law enforcement," said Shannon Erwin, co-founder of the Muslim Justice League. "Fear, meaning that Muslims and the black community and other folks who are targeted continue to feel that law enforcement is not here to necessarily support and protect them."
Erwin is worried more officers and agents will be knocking on the doors of Muslim citizens when those citizens don’t have legal representation present. Erwin and other lawyers, many Harvard-trained, created the Justice League to provide that representation.
"Folks are very concerned about appearing cooperative, making sure that folks know they have nothing to hide and care about community safety as much as any American, and as Muslims, they do," Erwin said. "But sometimes that can result in people doing things which undermine their own rights, and actually the community’s rights, unintentionally."
People have a right not to answer questions, or have a lawyer present when they do. Sarah Wunsch, deputy legal director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, says it’s important for people to know that because she’s seen others who came forward to help get charged themselves. Or it just becomes a hassle.
"They end up getting many visits from FBI agents acting very aggressively toward them, and people I think end up wishing that they hadn’t come forward,” she said.
There’s also a lot of concern about backlash against Muslims, fueled by media reports that attempt to fill in the holes as information comes out in drips and drabs. Cambridge City Councillor Nadeem Mazen, a Muslim, was among the group that viewed the video of Usaama Rahim’s shooting. He says it's premature for media to be speculating about a larger terrorist plot.
"And media needs to understand that that has a cost in livelihoods and in lives — when people face backlash, sometimes violent backlash, in the Greater Boston and New England communities. This has happened before and it has happened over the last several years, and we want to make sure media are entirely basing their communications on fact.”
And at this point, Mazen says, very few facts are available.
