(AP) A Muslim school board member from northern Virginia has filed a federal lawsuit alleging her civil rights were violated after she was pepper-sprayed during a traffic stop and then photographed without her hijab following her arrest.
Abrar Omeish, who was elected in 2019 to the Fairfax County school board, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria against the Fairfax County police officer who arrested her and against Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid.
Omeish said she was stopped in March 2019 after an officer said she turned right at a red light without stopping. Omeish says she questioned the stop and the officer responded by demanding her license and registration.
Omeish says that when she didn’t immediately produce her license, the officer ordered her out of the car and threatened her with pepper spray.
