State Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim has introduced a bill in the Virginia Senate to define Islamophobia as a motivating bias in assault and battery cases. The proposal describes Islamophobia as malicious prejudice or hatred toward Islam or Muslims and applies even when victims are targeted because of perceived, not actual, adherence to the faith. The measure would require the Department of State Police, with the Attorney General and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, to add this definition to the state's hate-crime reporting repository. The bill is now before the legislature for committee and floor consideration.
Virginia Senator Proposes Defining 'Islamophobia' As A Motivating Bias In Assault Cases
A Bengali-American state senator from Virginia has introduced a bill to criminalize Islamophobia.(Fox News)
A Bengali-American Virginia state senator, Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, has introduced legislation that would define the term 'Islamophobia' for the purpose of assessing motive in assault and battery cases.
The summary for Salim’s bill says that the Islamophobia definition "applies regardless of whether the victim is actually a practitioner of Islam, provided that the perpetrator targeted such victim based on a perceived adherence to such faith. The bill also clarifies that religious conviction includes Islam."
The bill's text frames Islamophobia specifically "as it relates to the crime of assault and battery as malicious prejudice or hatred directed toward Islam or Muslims." The measure says this definition would apply even when a victim is targeted because of a perceived — rather than actual — adherence to Islam, and clarifies that the statute's reference to religious conviction includes Islam.
Salim represents Virginia's district 37, which includes all of Fairfax City and Falls Church City, and parts of Fairfax County.
Under the proposal, the Department of State Police, in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, would be required to add the bill's definition of Islamophobia to Virginia's central hate-crime reporting repository. The change is intended to standardize how motive is recorded and analyzed in reported assaults.
Salim represents Virginia's 37th Senate district, which includes all of Fairfax City and Falls Church City and parts of Fairfax County. In addition to his legislative duties, he serves on several state advisory bodies and commissions, including the Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) Blockchain Advisory Committee; the Joint Commission overseeing the transition to a retail cannabis market; the Virginia Child Support Guidelines Review Panel; the Electric Vehicle Rebate Program Advisory Council; the Information Technology Advisory Council; the Virginia Commission on Intergovernmental Cooperation; and the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission.
The bill has been formally introduced in the Virginia Senate and will proceed through the legislature's committee and floor review. Fox News Digital has reached out to Sen. Salim for comment.
Note: The measure defines Islamophobia for use in determining motive in assault and battery cases; it does not, on its face, create a separate standalone criminal offense called "Islamophobia."
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