Morgan Hill man charged for assaulting Muslim worshippers; 15th Santa Clara County hate crime of 2025
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office has charged a Morgan Hill man with a hate crime after verbally and physically assaulting a group of Muslim worshippers during Ramadan.
The Bay Area is one of the most culturally diverse communities in the country - yet hate is still very much present.
And it's leading to attacks on people of different races and religions, including the Muslim community, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations of the Bay Area.
"There's definitely been a lot of fear and a lot of discrimination," CAIR-SFBA Civil Rights Attorney Bismah Jaffer said. "We know the stereotypes against us and they're just amplified now. So, there is a general sense of is it safe to say you're a Muslim, to go to prayer and then incidents like this happen."
In March during the holy time of Ramadan, a man in Morgan Hill brought that fear to life .
After prayer at the Community and Cultural Center, a group of worshippers were allegedly confronted by the man shouting Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian slurs before he shoved an elderly Muslim man.
MORE: South Bay community calls out Islamophobia after alleged assault of elderly Muslim person
Given the apparent motivation of bias due to religion, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office charged the suspect with a hate crime.
"These charges demonstrate that man's behavior was completely unacceptable," Jaffer said.
"Somebody might say, 'hey, why are you taking this so seriously? It's just a shove. It's just a guy that had a few drinks and he shoved somebody else,'" Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. "Well, no, it's much more serious than that."
MORE: Members of SF mosque harassed again amid growing anti-Muslim incidents
Rosen says hate crimes impact victims, the community and our American values.
Yet this year, he's had to charge 15 cases as hate crimes - a rapid pace he says he hasn't seen in many years.
"It's shocking in a bad way," Rosen said. "It's shocking in a concerning way."
MORE: Half of Muslim college students in CA facing harassment, discrimination: CAIR report
He knows hate crimes are often underreported due to fear.
But Rosen hopes this charge, and others like it, show how seriously this county takes acts of hate.
"We're trying to reassure the victim and everyone in that community that the law stands behind you," Rosen said. "We're trying to send a message to perpetrators that this is not tolerated here. And, number three, we're trying to remind everyone in our community of what our values are."
For a safer, more accepting and better Bay Area for all.
