An online photograph showing a policeman wearing lipstick and hijab is sparking fury in mid-western US state of Minnesota over mocking at the culture of the Muslim community.
“I was literally sick to my stomach,” Ramla Bile, a Muslim woman in Minneapolis, told Star Tribune.
“My identity is not a costume, and it's not OK for cultures to be turned into caricatures.” The controversy began with a tweet by Mukhtar Ibrahim, a journalist based in Washington, DC, asking about the photo on the St. Paul Police account.
"Can u pls verify if this man mocking Somali women employees at Target is one of your officers?" Ibrahim, who used to live in St. Paul, said.
The photo showed a white male police officer wearing a Target name tag with a Somali name.
He also has a large cellphone wedged between the side of his face and the hijab, a practice that is common among many working women.
Ibrahim received a reply from the St. Paul police on Monday, saying "SPPD wants to thx u for bring this to our att.
We take this seriously and are investigating." Police spokesman Howie Padilla confirmed that an officer is depicted in the picture, but could not release his identity...
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