Muslim-organized event planned to protest police brutality

MUSLIMS Mobilized Against Police Brutality, a new organization in Philadelphia, expects hundreds of participants at a march and rally tomorrow in Center City.

The event, organized by the Muslim Wellness Foundation, the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative and United Muslim Masjid, will begin at noon at 15th Street and JFK Boulevard.

Kameelah Mu'Min Rashad, a coordinator, said the demonstration is designed to address police brutality directed against the black community.

"Over the course of the last few weeks, we've been talking pointedly and having discussions about the political and social and legal implications of the events around Ferguson and New York and the psychological trauma evident in the black community as a result," she said.

"These events have raised the national profile and consciousness of police abuse and [use of] deadly force and brutality . . . For us, this is related to oppression in the country and other abuses of power."

A flier promoting the event includes an image of Malcolm X and quotes the Quran: "O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even if it be against yourselves, your parents and your relatives, or whether it is against the rich or the poor . . . "

Rashad said demonstrators are expected from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Delaware.