Inquiry Sought After Muslim Woman Allegedly Removed from Randalls Without Explanation
According to CAIR-Austin, the incident took place on the morning of June 1 at the Randalls location on Balcones Drive in Austin, Texas. The woman, who was speaking in Arabic with her daughter over the phone while shopping, was reportedly approached by a store manager who told her to leave immediately and informed her she was banned from all Randalls locations. When she asked for an explanation, the manager allegedly refused and threatened to call the police if she did not leave.
After she left the store, her son-in-law contacted the manager, who reportedly claimed the woman was seen on surveillance footage placing data-x-items into her purse and said her photo had been shared with other stores. The family attempted to follow up with Albertsons' customer service but said they were kept on hold for nearly 90 minutes without any response.
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CAIR-Austin submitted formal complaints to both Randalls and Albertsons on June 8, requesting access to the footage referenced in the accusation. As of now, no response has been received.
In a public statement, CAIR-Austin’s Operations Manager Shaimaa Zayan described the incident as "deeply disturbing" and highlighted that the woman, a U.S. citizen with no criminal history, has been a customer at Randalls since 2013.
Zayan added that, without credible evidence, the action "appears to be profiling based on our client’s faith, spoken language, ethnicity, and appearance."
Source: Agencies
