Twitter backlash to new reported hijab assault highlights Islamophobia fears

A tweet from the Toronto Police on Wednesday about an assault against a woman wearing a hijab is being met with rebuke and disbelief.

But the responses have nothing to do with the suspect or the reported attack in a subway station. Instead they’re, filled with skepticism and derision about the complaint in light of another reported anti-Muslim incident last week that turned out not to have happened.

It’s a consequence many Muslim advocates had feared coming just days after an 11-year-old falsely claimed that a man approached her from behind with scissors and cut her hijab. The scissors incident on Friday that police now say did not happen represents a new challenge for advocates who have been encouraging people to report attacks linked to religion or ethnicity.

“Woman reporting she was assaulted,” the Toronto Police wrote in the tweet about Wednesday’s incident. “Reports her hijab was pulled. Occurred on bus. Man fled into subway.”

A follow-up tweet said the assault was “minor”, no injuries were reported, and the incident isn’t being investigated as a hate crime. Police had said they were investigating Friday’s incident reported by the 11-year-old as a hate crime

Within two hours, Wednesday’s tweet more than 90 replies, with many calling the woman a liar and others posting gifs of eyerolls and fake winks.

“Sad to say I’m sceptical this actually happened,” said one commenter. “Which is why anyone who lies about this. Just makes it harder for people who actually are victims. Also makes it easier for perpetrators to get away with it. As victims won’t have credibility anymore.”

On Friday, 11-year-old Khawlah Noman said she was walking to school when an Asian man in glasses came up to her from behind and cut her hijab twice.

“I felt really scared and confused because I didn’t feel comfortable,” she said in a press conference also attended by police officers, school board officials, and her mother.

On Monday, police issued a news release that the reported attack which drew widespread condemnation, including from leaders of all three main political parties, “did not happen” and that the investigation was closed. They did not provide any further explanation.

Online, right-wing commentators swiftly attacked the girl and her parents, accusing them of coaching her and orchestrating the entire incident, and calling for criminal charges to be laid.

According to Statistics Canada, two thirds of hate crimes are never reported.