A theme park was forced to shut its gates to visitors when a mass brawl broke out after Muslim women were banned from rides unless they removed their headscarves.
Two park rangers were injured and 15 people, including three women, were arrested in the scuffle at Rye Playland in New York yesterday. They have since been charged with disorderly conduct and assault.
Muslim visitors involved in the fight accused police of brutality and claimed they were treated 'like animals'. One said: 'It's clear, this all happened because we're Muslim.'
[The guards] were beating down the girls, then they started beating down the guys as they came to their aid,' Lola Ali, 16, of Queens, told the Journal News.
The incident started at around 2pm when the theme park was crowded with around 6,000 visitors. Roughly 3,000 were in a Muslim tour group celebrating a holiday at the end of Ramadan.
Trouble reportedly flared when women wearing Muslim hijab scarves tried to get on rides banning any head coverings.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...s.html#ixzz1WcYLt58b
Two park rangers were injured and 15 people, including three women, were arrested in the scuffle at Rye Playland in New York yesterday. They have since been charged with disorderly conduct and assault.
Muslim visitors involved in the fight accused police of brutality and claimed they were treated 'like animals'. One said: 'It's clear, this all happened because we're Muslim.'
[The guards] were beating down the girls, then they started beating down the guys as they came to their aid,' Lola Ali, 16, of Queens, told the Journal News.
The incident started at around 2pm when the theme park was crowded with around 6,000 visitors. Roughly 3,000 were in a Muslim tour group celebrating a holiday at the end of Ramadan.
Trouble reportedly flared when women wearing Muslim hijab scarves tried to get on rides banning any head coverings.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...s.html#ixzz1WcYLt58b