CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Director Christina Abraham, who attended the hearing with Amal Abusumayyah, said afterward, "We are hopeful that this sent a message to the public that sort of behavior will not be tolerated by a fair and just society."

CAIR-Chicago announced today that it is pleased with the plea agreement reached yesterday between state prosecutors and Valerie Kenney, a suburban woman who faced hate crime charges after attacking a Muslim woman at a Tinley Park grocery store 2 days after the Fort Hood shooting.

"It gives her an opportunity to learn from her mistake," said Christina Abraham of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "And we think this does send a message to the greater community that hate crimes are not going to be tolerated and that this sort of behavior is wrong."

An official with the Chicago-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, which became involved in the case, said the backlash against Muslim-Americans had spiked somewhat in the days immediately following the Fort Hood shooting but has subsided. "We try to rally community support for (victims and their families) and to make sure the state's attorney is pursuing the case with the utmost importance," said spokeswoman Christina Abraham.

"Hate crimes are their own class of crime for a very good reason: The enhanced classification and punishment deters people from criminally acting out on their bigotry. It is the government's obligation to its citizens to take a no-tolerance position on such crimes," writes Ahmed Rehab.

"Pulling a woman's head scarf is clearly a hate crime and should therefore be investigated as such," said Christina Abraham, the Chicago civil rights director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR-Chicago executive director Ahmed Rehab comments on the assault on a Muslim woman in Tinley Park, IL. Amal Abusumayah was shopping when another customer made hateful comments against Muslims and attempted to pull off Abusumayah's headscarf.

Amal Abusumayah was paying for her groceries when she felt a sharp tug on her headscarf. When she looked at who had pulled her hijab, Abusumayah saw a woman who moments earlier had made a derogatory comment about Islam. Becky Schlikerman reports on a CAIR-Chicago client.