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Former House Candidate in Virginia Sues Jailed Harasser Over Anti-Muslim Threats

The lawyer and activist said he is no stranger to threats of violence, after watching his cousin get dragged through the streets and hung when he was a child in Pakistan.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CN) — A former candidate for Congress in Virginia filed suit Wednesday against an online harasser who is currently incarcerated for his online threats against the Muslim politician.

“Defendant Vandevere terrorized Rashid because of his race, ethnic background and Muslim faith, and this lawsuit seeks to hold him responsible for that harm,” according to the complaint filed in Alexandria federal court by lawyer and former congressional candidate Qasim Rashid.

The complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages against Black Mountain, North Carolina, resident Joseph Vandevere following his conviction for criminal online harassment in 2019. 

Rashid, represented by attorneys with Muslim Advocates and the law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth, is using a Virginia state law that creates a civil cause of action against anyone who uses hate-fueled language in an attempt to inflict emotional distress. 

“Vandevere’s threats against Mr. Rashid were a chilling example of the dangerous anti-Muslim activity that flourishes on social media platforms,” the lawsuit states.

The dispute dates back to just before Rashid’s unsuccessful bid to represent Virginia's 1st Congressional District in 2018 after the candidate had used his increasingly large online following to spread messages about his politics and faith.

An activist and Ahmadiyya Muslim originally from Pakistan, Rashid says he is no stranger to hate online or in person, but Vandevere’s attacks were different in tone, including words so strong they amounted to criminal threats leading to his arrest and conviction. 

“HI PEDOPHILE PROPHET MUHAMMAD CUBE WORSHIPPING INBRED MUSLIM SCUM LETS MEET SO YOU CAN RUN THAT COWARD MOUTH TO MY FACE.. PLEASE…VIEW YOUR DESTINY,” read a March 13, 2018, tweet featuring an image of a dead man who had been hung, in a response to one of Rashid’s posts.

Rashid tried to avoid further attacks by blocking Vandevere on Twitter, but the harsh language and attacks continued, including specific mentions of lynching. 

The lawyer said he is intimately aware of the real-life consequences of threats of lynching -- his cousin was dragged through the streets and hung because of his faith. 

“I took it as a very real threat to me and my family,” he said of the offending tweet in a statement. 

The online threats caught up with Vandevere in August 2019, when federal prosecutors charged him with transmitting in interstate commerce a communication that contained a threat to injure another person. He was convicted by a federal jury and sentenced to 10 months in prison.

While Rashid has prided himself on stressing forgiveness in the face of intolerance, a quality he links to his Muslim faith, he said Vandevere’s pending appeal to the Fourth Circuit seeking to overturn his conviction pushed the lawyer to bring a civil case.

“Through this lawsuit, I hope to send the message that no one should be threatened with violence merely for practicing their faith,” Rashid said in a statement. “In a year when over 3,800 instances of anti-Asian hate have been reported in this country, it is more important than ever that people of all communities stand up to this kind of targeted hate.”

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Categories / Civil Rights, Politics, Regional

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