Cops: Cabbie Stabbed After Fare Asked, 'Are You Muslim?'
Updated: 37 minutes ago
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David Lohr

David Lohr Contributor
AOL News
(Aug. 25) -- Authorities say a New York City cab driver is recovering after being brutally stabbed by a passenger who first demanded, "Are you Muslim?"

The attacks occurred as New York is in the midst of a contentious debate over plans to build an Islamic community center and mosque a few blocks from the site of the former World Trade Center.

"I think this clearly demonstrates that hate speech often leads to hate crime when you have the constant vilification of Islam and Muslims on talk radio, in newspapers, on cable news and on the Internet," Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told AOL News.

Police said Ahmed Sharif, 43, of the borough of Queens was driving his taxi on Manhattan's East Side Monday night when he was hailed by a pedestrian on the street.

Roughly one block from his destination, the passenger, identified as 21-year-old Michael Enright, of Brewster in upstate New York, allegedly asked Sharif, "Are you Muslim?" When Sharif said yes, Enright pulled out a knife and slashed Sharif in the neck, face and shoulders, police said.

Despite his injuries, Sharif was able to lock the attacker in the back of the cab and call for help. The suspect managed to get out of the vehicle, but police quickly located him and took him into custody.

Sharif was treated at a local hospital and released.

"I have been here more than 25 years," he said, according to a statement released by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA). "I have been driving a taxi more than 15 years. All my four kids were born here. I [have] never [felt] this hopeless and insecure before."

Sharif said he believed the debate over the Islamic center, often dubbed the ground zero mosque, was making public sentiment "very serious."

"All drivers should be more careful," he said.
This undated photograph provided by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance shows taxi driver Ahmed H. Sharif in a hospital in New York.
New York Taxi Workers Alliance / AP
Taxi driver Ahmed Sharif is shown in a hospital in New York, where he was treated for cuts to the throat, upper lip, forearm and thumb.

The suspect was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was admitted for a mental health evaluation. Enright has charged been with attempted murder as a hate crime, assault and criminal possession of a weapon," police spokeswoman Doris Otero said.

According to the New York Post, Enright, who was allegedly drunk at the time of the incident, told police that he works for an Internet media company and that he recently returned from Afghanistan, where he had been filming military exercises. His supposed employer, Intersections International, recently announced its support of the so-called ground zero mosque, The Village Voice reported.

But Intersections International said it did not employ the stabbing suspect.

"The alleged perpetrator is not an employee and has never been an employee of Intersections. There is a person who fits the description of the alleged perpetrator who has worked with us as a volunteer, but until we get further confirmation of the details in this incident, we cannot comment," the company said in a statement posted on its website.

"Our hearts go out to the cab driver, his family and any person who has dealt with such unacceptable violence," it said.

The Post also reported that Enright has had prior arrests for criminal trespassing, disorderly conduct and underage drinking.

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance planned a news conference Thursday to call for an end to "bigotry and anti-Islamic rhetoric in the debate around the Park 51 Islamic Cultural Center."

The NYTWA is also urging Gov. David Paterson to sign the Taxi Driver Protection Act, passed by the Legislature on June 26. The bill would increase penalties for crimes against cab drivers and requires a sign in all taxis that reads: "Warning: Assaulting a Taxi Driver Is Punishable by Up to Twenty-Five Years in Prison."

Meanwhile, Hooper said the Council on American-Islamic Relations is concerned about "hysterical anti-Muslim rhetoric" and the impact on American Muslims and their families.

"You can survive hate crimes ... [but what about] the daily vilification of your faith -- how do your children survive that?" he asked.

http://www.aolnews.com/crime/article/police-nyc-cabbie-sharif-ahmed-stabbed-after-fare-asked-are-you-muslim/19607768


Hate speech is so very dangerous.

So are politicians who don't think things like where this mosque is going either! They are JUST as much to blame for the crime as the criminal when they are enacting policies that piss people off so badly.

I can't condone the act per say but hey, WELCOME to NY!

One more instance of 'Extreme Political Correctness' ...

I guess he won't be answerin' THAT again ...

But hey, the 'imam' who's behind all this is a 'bridge-builder', huh ... ? Sure. No matter how much the people say they don't want the damned thing, he STILL insists on putting it there. If he was a 'bridge-builder', he'd be negotiating a new location with the gov right now ... but he ain't ... seemsayin' ...

makes me wonder why the other 200 stabbings that happened that day didn't make the news...just propaganda...

The passenger is a hero.

I think it's incredible this man actually found a cab driver who could speak and understand english.Every time I was in NYC most cab drivers would hand you a big laminated map and you pointed to where you wanted to go because they didn't speak english.

All the hate talk that is unhealthy for all of humanity is a catalyst for these type of actions.

IMO no one should be harmed just because of race, religion, sexual preference etc.

The only time I would harm another is in protecting myself or loved ones.

How do we know that the cab driver did'nt fabricate the whole thing??...why, because we heard it on the news??
How do we know the cab driver did'nt threaten the passenger first??

Your going to lecture us on hate talk of all people? Thanks but I think I have had my fill on your views regarding hate on issues such as Sara palin,the tea party people,Christians,Conservatives,talk show hosts,fox news,and about a hundred others I can't think of.

so sad on so many levels,, just 21 and throwing away his life on hatred,,,,,

I am glad the cabbie is ok,, I drove a cab when I was younger, its no joy ride,,,

@Ms Harmony
If I got in your cab, I wouldn't stab you, but I would poke ya ;)

tsk tsk tsk,,,

I think that attributing this bigot's attack to the ground zero mosque debate is a real stretch although it is not surprising that those who advocate building a large Islamic center there have elevated tensions along with those who are vociferously voicing their objections.

Complaining about or advocating for the ground zero mosque (so to speak) is not hate speech however. Hate speech is the willful vilification of others - not a usual part of a civilized discussion regarding a political disagreement.

Hate speech is more like those who call Israeli's "Nazis" or those
who liken Israeli nationalism (Zionism) to Nazism. This is hate speech. Or if people make blanket statement about how they think all Muslims advocate terrorism. That is an untrue and hateful slur on Islam.

But not wanting a mosque at the site of the WTC bombings or even nearby is not in and of itself hate speech. And those who claim that
it is are only making themselves look foolish and weakening their
own position.

When EVERYTHING is ' hate speech', NOTHING is 'hate speech' ... the PC crowd never learns ...

Simply having an opinion on something is "hate speech" by the PC crowd

i wouldnt think adults REALLY need an explanation of what hate speech is,,,,,,associating a mosque with what happened on 9/11 is at the least bigoted and at the most hateful

I don't do hate talk.

I do a different view than you that is all.

Hate talk is completely different from that.

Except that to not want an Islamic center close to Ground Zero is in of itself hate talk. It is holding innocent Muslims responsible for something they didn't do. Generalizing all Muslims into one group that are terrorists. That is hate talk.