(SEATTLE, WA, 4/24/2025) – The Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA), a chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced the filing of a complaint with the Seattle Office of Police Accountability regarding an incident in February in which the Seattle Police Department (SPD) allegedly responded with excessive force to a false report against two Black Muslim women.
On February 4, a 28-year-old woman and her 20-year-old sister were parking in a downtown Seattle garage when another car followed closely and honked aggressively. After they parked, the driver of the other car reportedly verbally accosted them at their car and again at the garage elevator. Both women are Black and Muslim, and one wears a head covering.
When the sisters returned to their car after eating lunch, they were confronted by several SPD officers pointing flashlights and guns at them. They were handcuffed, and the officers tackled one of the women, causing injuries that led her to seek emergency medical attention.
The women learned that the driver of the other car had reported to police that one of woman had called him a derogatory slur and threatened him with a gun. Security video footage and a search of the women and their car confirmed they did not have a gun, and they categorically deny using a slur against this man. In fact, they say that he shouted expletives at them. Making a false report to police for the purpose of deploying law enforcement on another person is a form of criminal harassment called “swatting”.
In a statement, one of the women said: “This situation has caused my sister and me to have very traumatic flash backs and a fear of even leaving the house. It is very unfortunate that the Seattle Police Department treated us so inhumanely just because a White man made a phone call about us that was all a lie. I want SPD to take corrective measures so that this will not happen to people like me and my sister in the future.”
In a statement, Imraan Siddiqi, CAIR-WA’s Executive Director said: “It is especially troubling to see this alleged excessive use of force, which can have a lasting negative impact on the sisters who were targeted. We call on the City of Seattle to seek accountability from those who reportedly targeted these women and to enact measures to ensure this never happens again.”
In addition to neglecting to use de-escalation tactics and using excessive force, SPD did not appropriately identify and document the potential bias against the two women. Had the officers identified the swatting incident, which was intended to draw police interaction and intimidate innocent individuals, they could have also identified the element of bias in the caller’s targeting of Black and Muslim women.
In its complaint, CAIR-WA calls on the Office of Police Accountability to investigate numerous violations of SPD policy in their response, to file charges against caller for false reporting, and to stop over-policing Muslims, women, and people of color.