Video: Police Baton Crowd At Rye Playland After Muslim Woman Refuses To Remove Headscarf

Q.  What do muslim women use for birth control?

A. Their faces.

I don't understand what people like you get out of putting other people down and making fun of their religion !!

I highly doubt the police would regulate against a baseball cap, headband or yarmulke (well maybe a yarmulke seeing this).   Rye Playland: what are the statistics from people CHOKING on things when playing rides?

I feel bad for the families that just wanted to have a day of fun with their kids - the police in this situation did not help matters at all; OF COURSE husbands would defend their wives and kids when strange men start giving them a hard time! I don't care what color or religion you are.

For the cops that name check 9/11 a justification for their actions have serious problems -- 9/11 was a horrible tragedy for our nation, but the tragedy does not condone treating people this way -- they had nothing to do with it.

The cop that said "I don't care about your religion" should be fired, as should the cop that continued to be violent after the person submitted to "arrest."

If your headgear is the most meaningful part of your religion than you obviously understand neither your religion nor God. Get over yourselves people. Try starting something like that in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia, and see how well the police treat you there.

apparently you're just one of the ignorant people that know nothing about religion and have no respect for others and their religion !!

Sorry, I don't believe in the sky fairy nonsense and exceptions for whiners who do.  This group created the situation and I have no sympathy for yet another group of religious idiots.

Generalizing every individual as a group !! FAIL !!

Does that then mean what is more important is enforcing rules even if it means cracking having to occasionally crack someone’s head open? Which is to suggest what we should instead applaud is a culture that enforces its own preferred version of aesthetics and rules even with degrees of violence? Or is it simply a situation that if you refuse to abide by the rules then you should be bear the consequences?

http://scallywagandvagabond.co...

RELIGION IS AWESOME.

I have been to Rye Playland a number of times, taking my children and then my grandchildren.
We have always had a great time. It's a nice place take the kids, they love it.
It's just too bad this incident had to take place,
Somebody handled this wrong.

I have seen woman wearing the hijab boarding rides in Coney Island and there didn't seem to
be any problem.
There is far too much hatred towards Muslim, it is not warranted.

Muslims = The 'new' Jews

You are an idiot of the first degree.

Cute. I was thinking the same thing about major Hip Hop artists

Racism, in general, will never end because some (MOST) people are just ignorant and like to generalize that all Muslims are terrorists, and all African Americans are gang members, and all Caucasians are above all and have all rights in this world to treat others like crap as if they are the ones that created this whole world and own it !! On the other hand, Muslims, African Americans and other "minority" groups think they have the right to harm others because they feel threatened !! GiVe Me A FrEeKiNg BrEaK aNd GeT oVeR uR dAmN SeLvEs U IgNoRaNt PeOpLe !!!!!

PS: Before you reply to my comment, you should know that my message is towards the ignorant people in this world who cannot accept other race/culture/religon/skin color as equal !!

Amputees technically, are not equal. But, I agree should be treated equally ... just sayin.

Whether equal or not, all human beings should be TREATED equally; except this would be possible only in a perfect world !! And,our world is pretty much the opposite of that !!

u americans r soooo naive.... everything and everyone isn't right for u... everyone who's a foreign or black or muslim or whatever his religion is or color is a stranger and weird and dangerous for u.... this incident that happened in rye playland was because these women were muslims and people refused to board muslim people to the ride.. u probably thought that she would "explode"!!! well trust people when a person wants to explode he'll/she'll explode of anger and rage....

We're naive and you're a presumptuous horse's ass.

"U americans"? That's pretty funny. Welcome to gothamist.com. A news blog about NYC....in the united states. Why are you here? 

"Cops say they've done nothing wrong." Thats what they always say, every time, regardless of whether it's true, and regardless of the existence of video and witnesses proving otherwise.

The video didn't prove anything.

has anybody said fuck rye playland? would it have been too much fucking trouble to go to like great adventure or something? how about like chilling at a park in queens or some shit, for a major religious holiday?

Not sure why the Fox reporter refers to the group as 'Muslim Americans'.  I'm pretty sure he wouldn't refer to 'Christian Americans'.

Most Americans are not muslim. Same reason people refer to others as "Native American", "Hispanic American", and everyone's favorite "African American". A news article is about spreading the information about the story, thus the reporter gave information instead of being purposefully vague as someone like you might.

A headscarf is no more your "religion" than a plastic spaghetti strainer is mine. Get over yourselves people. If you can't read the warning signs, go to Coney Island or something.

*legally, that is.

I honestly can't decide who I despise more: cops or religious apologists.

Cops. It's an easy choice. But the cops were not wrong in this case.

I'm not sure whether the author's attempt at irony really worked here although he gave it a good try. This whole thing could have been handled in a much more civilized way if the ride operators had said here is your money back as you can't take the ride with head gear.

"Fifteen people were arrested at Rye Playland amusement park in Westchester County yesterday afternoon, and two charged with felony assault after a melee broke out when a park employee asked a Muslim woman to remove her headscarf before boarding a ride. "
That's a bit of nonsense sensationalism right there. Yes, it occurred following those events, but the implication is that they were the cause. In the same way, I could say "Fifteen people were arrested at Rye Playland yesterday afternoon after some people flew some airplanes into the World Trade Center" Yes, it is technically true- one followed the other. But it is incorrect logic, and simply sensationalism. Shame on you.

"The woman who attempted to ride the Dragon Rollercoaster, Haifa Ali, tells Patch that after she was told she couldn't ride unless she removed her hijab, she and a group of other Muslim women went to ask for a refund."

So, she went, they said no, she went for a refund. Sounds pretty peaceful and honestly reasonable on the woman's part. She paid, got in line, discovered that she couldn't ride, wanted her tickets back. Hell, ignore religion- if she decided that it was too scary and she turned around, she should get her money/tickets back. No service was rendered. And in any case, she's just going to go elsewhere in the park to use the tickets, who cares?

" Then "someone grabbed her hijab…a park ranger wrestled another one of the women to the ground,""

This is where the story seems to get weird. Someone grabbed her hijab, which is admittedly rude. Who was this somebody? A member of the park? One of her fellow muslims? The wind?

And it's one hell of a leap in that sentence. From someone grabbing her hijab (it doesn't say whether it was removed, by the way) to someone getting wrestled to the ground by the cop. Um...what happened between those two moments? The implication is that someone from the park grabbed it, and then because the women were asking for a refund, the park employees must have gone mouth-foamingly insane and decided to start tackling the group.

 "when "law enforcement began to converge on the group, hitting them with batons.""

So, all of this happened in a matter of seconds? There are such enormous gaps in this story, I can't even puzzle together what happened. Look, cops at Rye Playland aren't going to randomly decide to start beating up patrons. Among other things, it loses them business. What actually happened?

" Another eyewitness not with the group says she heard one female police officer yell, "I don't give a f*ck about your culture.""

Again, consider this. Who says this out of the blue? What I can believe is that the cop was being attacked by someone screaming "You're just doing this because you hate my culture!" and the cop responding with "I don't give a fuck about your culture." which is true- the cop cares about people keeping the peace. If I'm in an alleyway getting the shit beaten out of me by a bunch of black guys, cops pull up and the black guys start screaming "You're doing this just because we're black!" which would I rather hear- "Gee, you're right. It is because you're black. My mistake. Have a good day now" or "It's not because you're black, you shmuck, it's because you're mugging that poor guy!"?

Look, I suspect that the cops were probably on their guard considering that there were 2,000 muslims in the park and they didn't want to start anything to get accused of racism. But I don't know. I don't think anyone knows because a lot of shit apparently happened and none of it was reported.

glad some people still have brains and don't automatically play the "cops being racist" card.

Welcome to the world of gothamist writers.

In their own muslim country they wouldn't be allowed to go on these rides so why do they think they can here?

Baloney. There's carnivals and theme parks in the middle east and Asia. Heck, they're even in Afghanistan. Any other weird stereotypes I can help you prove wrong?

Muslim women ARE discriminated against. By Muslim men. It sure as hell ain't John Q. Public demanding dietary, social and dress codes from them.

All pigs must die.

Were you there? Politely asking someone to remove a headband or scarf (what you call "take her clothes off") that can well cause a problem on a ride (which is legitimate) is harrassment?
Did you actually read my post? I don't know what happened, and neither do you. Once again, how about waiting for all the facts to emerge?

I absolutely understand that and never questioned the safety rules. I am just upset in general at how Muslim women are treated and looked at differently just because they choose to cover their heads. Whether i got the facts right about this event or not, the truth is that Muslim women are discriminated against by, not all but, quite a few.

Where the hell did you get this version, and report it as the only one?? I heard from witnesses that a cop was attacked first and wound up in a hospital, but I'll wait to hear all the witnesses before I come to a definite conclusion on what happened. You might try doing the same.
www.newyorkgritty.net

I did not mean to reply this to farebalanced. This was meant as just a general message.

Whatever the case may have been. Would you sit and watch someone (whether it be a policeman or not) harrass your mom or sister or daughter?? You think you would let that person take "her" clothes off or hit her?? You think it is okay for policemen to hit woman if the policemen feels like "she" is harmful?? Compare the strength of a policeman to that of a woman in general!!

I personally welcome our Islamic overlords, and enjoy having their sacred scarfs flying into my face while riding roller-coasters.

Seriously, it upsets me how ignorant people can be!! No respect for other religions and other cultures!! How can someone just grab a Muslim woman's scarf off her head?? It's like grabbing a woman's shirt off her body. Absolutely disrespectful!! Most Muslim women cover their heads for religous purposes!! Not for show or because they feel like it. It's not a damn decoration. It's sacred. It's not a joke. There are reasons why most Muslim women cover their heads and bodies and do not wear open clothings like most women do in America. It is a shame at people refuse to accept religions other than Christianity but expect Muslims to respect their religion and cultures. Why? Why should Muslims have to sacrifice?? I thought this was a free country. I guess free for only the ones with the white skin!! I accept that the Muslim women could not ride the rollercoasters because of the scaves,but how dare they be askd to remove their scaves. It' like asking a woman to take her dress/skirt/pants off. Seriously?? And then have he odasity to go as far as not only touching and badmouthing a Muslim woman, but grabbing her scarf off of her head. Absolutely disgusting!! Cheap!! Inhumane!! Disrespectful!! Ignorant!! What a damn shame!! How the hell can Muslims feel safe if the people that should protect them (Police) are the ones to harm them??

I'm ok with headscarfs and more.  Anyone ever get the sense there are beautiful women lurking under all that fabric?

NO the opposite they why they wear them

I don't think the woman was asked to remove the scarf.  She was told that if she wanted to go on the rides, she had to remove it.  It seems she felt that she had a right to wear the scarf and ride if she paid full price for entry.

Everything after that  in terms of who touched whom first is "he said, she said", etc.

Also, expecting a minimum wage Playland employee to be respectful of anybody is honestly asking a lot. They treat everyone equally: like dirt.

*audacity

Im showing up with a Yarmulke on, bet my Palestinian ass wont get beat then...

That's actually interesting.  I mean, I've been told to remove my baseball hat at Rye, but a yarmulke is typically safety-pinned to the hair (unless bald), so it's less likely to go flying.  Also, unless the wearer is short, it's sometimes difficult to see from the front, so the yarmulke may not be noticed.

A more interesting comparison would be a skullcap worn by someone looking middle-Eastern versus a yarmulke-wearer.

What about Sikhs by the way?  That's a whole lot of fabric going on up there...

fuck islam.

well, ok, then...

Exactly. Where in the Koran does it say that Muslims have to ride the Dragon Coaster?

Does anyone know the Koran's policy on roller coasters?

Raising of the arms might be ok, but screaming is definitely verboten.

It's rare to see a woman in a hijab speaking with a ghetto accent like that. Hm.

That shit is pure West Bank yo.

then let those women get on with their headgears and have them sign a waiver to release the park of all liability.  See, i am lawyer like youngpoo

It's good to see the old rivalry back in action.

It's on again like Donkey Kong. 

nuns are very docile though, they wouldn't never argue with anyone except unless you are having an abortion then all hell breaks loose.

Not old school nuns.  I went to Catholic school.  50% were stern and you didn't mess with them.

I guess you didn't go to Catholic school back in the day.  ;)  Docile isn't a word i would use.

I said it first.  Why does he get the 'like'?

LOL, nope, i escaped the nuns.  whew

I do like that "Start you own Amusement Park,"  ride with scarfs on.. go ahead, see what happens!

ONLY Duane Reade security can use extreme unjustified force to restrain.  and Vivanne Delgado hear them make anti-muslim remarks.

I've gone to Rye Playland before and been told I have to either leave my camera and hat with a friend, leave it in the car, entrust it to a random employee, or forgo the ride. Fortunately for me, these items are not part of my religion, but the rules are clearly laid out.

If people don't want to remove certain items like hats, scarves, etc, and a private entity forbids them, then they should either go somewhere else that does allow them or start their own amusement park.

I really don't see this as a discrimination issue since none of the men were disallowed from the rides (or women without scarves should they exist).  Just as I know I am allowed to go to many Muslim temples or to observe but not allowed to go if I refuse to wear pants.... ok, ridiculous example, but my point is that an organization that is private is allowed to set up any rules it wants as long as they are not discriminatory or selectively enforced.

I'm a Muslim women and I wear the head cover. I totally agree that rules is rules I chose this way to live my life so no one should be discomforted by it.
The whole issue should have been resolved without all this trouble and arrests.  Totally no one should touch any police officer on the other hand police should not use their hands as well. all these officers dragging this young girl "from USToday she is 18 years old", she has no weapons how much harm would she cause to be dragged like that.

The main problem her that no one was told about this rule to begin with and the person who made the reservation didn't inform anyone abut it.
And since it's a new rule and head covered women were able to ride anything they want the previous years without any problem I guess it was a surprise to all. 

again I'm Muslim I have been in the US from over 16 years I'm only 35 and I don't like violence or stepping on anyone's toes and I also don't like anyone to step on mine 
Islam is a religion but Human nature is something totally different. So I hope that people understand that not all Muslims are violent or live in the stone age.  

I as a Muslim live normal like anyone else I obey rules and laws never had a problem with any policeman as long as I'm fallowing the rules, and yes when I first migrated to the US I learned the way to live her and adapted, that was my choice and a lot of Muslims friends of mine are the same. So I hope when anyone writes just write about this problem only and not all of us.

First of all, unless you've had interactions with the police before, you should know that generally in the US, the policy is: "Arrest now, ask question later", especially when there is a group setting.  This doesn't always mean the police want to hurt anyone - quite the opposite.  When crowds show up and start yelling, police tend to round people up, let them cool off for an hour or so, question them all to get the story straight, and generally release everyone without charges.

Also, laying a single finger on a cop is a huge no-no since they can basically claim whatever they want and the higher-ups, mayors, and DAs will side with them 99% of the time. I'm not a huge fan of cops, byt they often have tough jobs.  I mean, consider from their point of view:  there's a small handful of them (until more showed up) and hundreds of people screaming and spitting at them.  What are they supposed to do? By the time they showed up, everything had likely already escalated anyway.

As for not being informed of the rule, that's not Rye's fault: that's the fault of the organizer.  Plus, anyone could have gone on the website and checked it out.

I showed up at Yankees stadium once, right after 9/11, and I had a backpack with me.  They said, "You can't come in with a bag." I said, "But, it's just full of school books - you can look in it.".  They said, "Not our problem.  You should have read the rules - tough shit for you." This was right before the local bowling alley started holding bags for people for $5-10, so I had to give away my ticket and go home.

Private companies like Rye or the Yankees set rules to protect themselves, reduce their liabilities, and maximize their profits.  Whether you're a Muslim, Jew, Christian, Atheist, Zoroastrian, or whatever, they couldn't give a shit as long as you play by their rules.

95% of the people in this country probably could care less that you're a Muslim.  Most Americans just want their neighbors to obey the laws, respect everyone's property and not expect special treatment. We all come from immigrant backgrounds, and all of our families assimilated (well, most at least) because the only thing that matter sin the US is $$$.

By the way, 87% of statistics are made up on the spot, and 42% of people are aware of that fact.

The question is: How would this have been different if a group of nuns arrived in their habits? Would the batons have come out? Even if the nun became aggressive? If not, those police have some soul-searching to do; they likely don't even know they would discriminate based on religion.

Drew232: I can't speak for the police officers involved, but I will say that if a bunch of nuns "got aggressive" and intervention was needed, the batons should come out. Btw I'm Catholic.

If you want to be treated with respect, don't start fights in public, even if you are a nun.

I would hazard to say that they would tell them the same thing.  Look, Rye Playland wants one thing:  to make as much coin as possible (20 bucks per person for Rye?!?) and deliberately pissing off an entire religion and thousands of current attendees does not seem like a good business plan.

Let's say this woman did go on, got her scarf caught on something and then was choked to death.  You know Rye would have been sued into bankruptcy for not enforcing its own safety rules.  The only mistake Rye could have made here was not telling every single individual that hats and scarves are not allowed on rides or having huge signs everywhere.

I think you're right, the message would have been the same. The question is, when the message is not received well by the person wearing the head covering, what happens next, and is that dictated by the religion of the wearer? Is one religion more likely to get empathy while another violence?

I think that trying to arrive at some sort of conclusion of Rye Playland's secret agenda or plan on how to treat all Muslims based on the actions of 2-3 minimum wage employees will likely not work.

As for the police, all they care about is showing up, beating people into submission and getting hom in time for Chicken Pot Pie Night and reruns of The Commish.  Had this instead been a hipster convention, and they all refused to gate-check their fixies, the result would have been the same.

Police only treat two groups with respect: other police and rich people.

Rioting nuns? Nice try...

If it makes you uncomfortable to answer the question, just change the subject? You can be argumentative online, but when you read the question you couldn't lie to yourself; you would have shown a nun respect despite anything she said. So, "Saint" George, if you want to earn that title you need to love thy neighbor as thyself.

Drew, the question you proposed is ridiculous.. The batons didn't come out because a group of people arrived with head scarves on.. The batons came out after a group of people rioted, fought each other and then attacked police who were breaking up the fight.. 

Now, if you were to rephrase the question and say, if a group of nuns became violent and attacked the police should they have been arrested? The answer would clearly be yes, they should be arrested.. 

The evening continued after the violent offenders left.. It is not like the police broke up the group, kicked them out of the park and started randomly attacking people.. The offenders were rightfully arrested, random people were not attacked.. The trouble makers were made to leave and out of 2 thousand plus muslims at the park, 10 people were taken away to protect all of the other peaceful people. 

So your having trouble answering the question yourself, then? Your remark is a redirection: "it couldn't happen", or "it didn't happen this way". The answer that you can't say - the one that scares you - is that you could pull batons on muslims but would refrain on nuns. You would probably let the nuns hit you, in fact, and not even retaliate. You may restrain them as gently as possible and put them in the car, apologizing the whole way, but the batons would not come out and you would feel empathy instead of hate.

I wouldn't pull out a baton on anyone cause I don't have a baton.. But, if I was at the park the way my buddy was with his kid, i would want the police to club anyone person who was rampaging around the park.. 

I think the question you need to ask is, why do you care so much about the religion of a criminal

I think it's important to remember that Islam (like Christianity, Judaism, etc) is a philosophy, a religion.  It is not a species.  It's not a genetic variant.  It's a set of thoughts which any human being can adopt or reject.

Much, much easier said than done.

If they couldn't get on the attractions, couldn't they have just enjoyed the camel rides and the "stone the whore" tent? Maybe a good "honor killilng" at the Midway?

I know I shouldn't but I actually like your comment.

anybody who takes this idiotic article at face value, without knowing the real facts, which have been reported everywhere else but in this crap article, needs to be batoned repeatedly, along with this moronic author.

author

ty :P

You can wear headscarves on coasters at Disney World and other amusement parks.  So, it's a silly rule to begin with.  But, even if you use the "rules are rules" argument,  I find it hard to believe that Playland couldn't have handled this with less confrontation.  I know Disney World wouldn't have let this turn into a "riot" no matter how many people were involved. (my brother-in-law was a WDW security cop for a few years.)

The 'riot' as you call it was started when the group started to fight amongst themselves.

Have you been to Playland?

There is nothing like the Dragon Coaster at Disney, or Six Flags for that matter.  The Dragon Coaster is a wooden coaster (gravity powered), first of all, and it's over 100 years old. 

Second of all, Playland doesn't have a stellar safety record.  At least 2 people in the past decade have died due to inproper restaints.  Obviously, it is in Playland's best interest to avoid this as much as possible, more so than ever.

That said, the staff at Playland (minimum wage, summer-only, outdoor) is awful.

Comparing Disney is irrevelent.  A better analogy would be Coney Island or hell, a street fair with rent-a-rides.

It appears that the police might have acted like the very branches of the Syrian military Americans profess to hate so much.

I could be wrong, but its hard to take the side of so many racists here on the interweb's.

Is there a douchier gothamist write than christopher robbins?  He has to take the cake.

I doubt it.

What robbins left out which is true.

As we have seen at airports and other venues, Muslim activists have
deliberately tried to create incidents against the government in order
to avoid searches and questions about their behavior and conversations. 

Winnie the Pooh can't stand his ass either.

As long as he doesn't refer to him as "My Tigga".

Sure as s%^$, if they would have let them break the rules, and someone got hurt, they would have sued this place out of existence.

Alot of people did get hurt. Customer service and security might have attempted a more professional stab at maintaining order.

The press maligns and distorts the story every time, don't they?. 

Everyone comes off pretty calm and  reasonable in this video. From the Muslim men and women, to the park administrators and the police supervisor who mentioned that the problems started after police tried to break up a fight WITHIN the crowd.  

The reporters don't talk to the tour operator on camera who may have riled people up so not to have to give refunds after failing to inform visitors about the dead gear policy.

This seems like it was avoidable to me.

Their first mistake was to go to Playland, the shittiest "amusement" park this side of the Mississippi.

Dont you all know that the rules for everyone do not apply to Muslims, as they are superior to our rules and laws! Havent you figured that out yet? And if a Muslim woman is yelling, being violent, and resisting arrest, that the Muslim males have a right to beat the police? As a mob. Sheesh...get with the program people!

Seriously, though, I do hope the park rangers (PARK RANGERS! The nicest of all people!) are not to bad-off, as they had to go to the  hospital after being beaten by a mob!

This is unbelievably one sided. People like to cry victim when its convenient, especially Muslims. They were being subjected to a rule that everyone has to follow, even people that believe in fairytales. Rules don't care about your culture, and the police are enforcing the rules. It applies to everyone and NO ONE should get special treatment. Something tells me these people got violent which wouldnt really surprise me. Get over yourselves and follow the laws just like everyone else has to.