Two Muslim women have alleged that they were blocked from entering a campaign event featuring Vice President Kamala Harris because they were wearing hijabs.
Video of the incident, which took place in Las Vegas on Saturday, has gone viral on social media.
The footage was posted on X by Nevadans for Palestinian Liberation, who wrote, "Both of these Muslim constituents had RSVPd for the event, were given wristbands upon checking in and were standing in line when the Harris campaign officials denied them entry." 🧵 On Saturday, January 27th at the @KamalaHarris "Get The Vote Out" event in Las Vegas, two visible members of the Muslim community wearing hijabs were not let in by campaign officials.
The Biden/Harris campaign is clearly fanning the flames of Islamophobia. pic.twitter.com/FOhSyHOm1I
— Nevadans for Palestinian Liberation (@npl_palestine) January 30, 2024
“They’re disinviting us because we have hijabs on our heads,” the woman filming can be heard telling attendees entering the event.
The woman filming can be heard telling the staffer, "Wow, now I really won't vote for Biden and Harris, that's crazy." Both of these Muslim constituents had RSVPd for the event, were given wristbands upon checking in and were standing in line when the Harris campaign officials denied them entry. pic.twitter.com/KlFrYsaCgw
— Nevadans for Palestinian Liberation (@npl_palestine) January 30, 2024
Another person attending asked the campaign staff why the women were not allowed in, but the response could not be heard in the footage.
"For all those voters who were not sure about who to vote for in the upcoming election, please ask yourselves if you are ok with the openly, blatant racism we are seeing here by the Biden/Harris ticket," Nevadans for Palestinian Liberation wrote in a subsequent post. For all those voters who were not sure about who to vote for in the upcoming election, please ask yourselves if you are ok with the openly, blatant racism we are seeing here by the Biden/Harris ticket.
— Nevadans for Palestinian Liberation (@npl_palestine) January 30, 2024
The women accused the staffer of being racist and Islamaphobic, while repeatedly asking for an explanation about why they were barred from the event. The staff member declined to answer their questions.
The Council on American Islamic Relations has issued a statement asking Harris to "take appropriate action to address this apparent incident of profiling."
“The American people deserve to know whether these women were profiled and barred from an event featuring Vice President Harris because they were visibly Muslim,” CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw said in a statement on Tuesday. “We encourage Vice President Harris to take appropriate action to address this apparent incident of profiling.”
An aide for the Biden Harris campaign told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the women were banned for being known to disrupt Democrat events.
“As a policy, the campaign will disinvite individuals known to have disrupted prior events,” the aide said in a statement.
