ENFIELD – A British Muslim teenager is now the latest victim of Islamophobia after falling victim to a hate attack by a British man who slapped her with bacon and called her ISIS “scum”.
“This was a truly shocking incident. The victim was out with her mother and getting on with her day when Chivers abused her and then set upon her with something he knew would both upset and offend her,” DC James Payne from the Enfield Community Safety Unit was quoted by Express Tribune on Saturday, July 1.
“We know other people were present during this attack, including an associate of [Alex] Chivers’ who filmed the incident. Enquiries are ongoing to trace these people and if you have any information that may assist in identifying them please contact the Community Safety Unit at Enfield via 101,” James said.
Ikram Ali, a 17-year-old student from Enfield, was walking with her mother on June 8 on Hertford Road in Enfield when the attack took place, leaving her distressed.
“I was unable to see and breathe for a while and at this point I couldn’t understand why. I was being suffocated. I thought I was dead. I didn’t know what hit me. It was only when the bacon peeled off my face and it fell to the ground, and the male behind me started shouting ‘bacon, bacon, it’s bacon’ that I started to grasp what was happening to me,” Ali told BuzzFeed.
She said she turned around to see a tall white man in a motorcycle helmet pointing at her and calling her “scum”.
The young teenager added that the man wasn’t on his own and that he left with another guy who was with him on a motorcycle.
“No one in cars stopped to help, no one across the road tried to help, no one,” said Ali.
The man, 36-year-old Alex Chivers, had a ski mask on and was wearing a motorbike helmet to cover his face when he attacked the teenager.
He had also covered his mouth, chin and neck and wore black clothing, but the police were still able to identify him.
The attacker pleaded guilty to religious or racially aggravated assault and has been awarded jail time for 38 weeks over the attack.
Along with that he will have to pay the victim a £115 surcharge and will be completing a 12 months supervision order after his release.
The young Muslim teenager said she didn’t blame the attacker, but she blamed the media.
“They misrepresent Muslims,” she said. “I’m an A-level student studying maths, biology, and chemistry, with hopes and dreams just like anyone else out there.”
“Islamophobia is real, and it is out there and because of the way Muslim women choose to dress, we’re unfortunately a target. However, I still choose to believe there’s more good out there than bad, and that my hijab will not hinder me in my life.”