A Muslim boy was reportedly called a "terrorist" and kicked off a public bus in New York City after the driver overheard him reciting an Arabic prayer.
The incident occurred back in Oct. 2012 to Hyder Naqvi as he struggled to find his MetroCard while boarding the B-39 bus in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, N.Y. He then recited the short prayer which is often used in Islam to help someone in the face of a challenge.
"I start in the name of God, the most merciful, the most beneficent," said the 10-year-old Brooklyn boy in Arabic, reports the Huffington Post.
Eventually he found his MetroCard, however the unidentified driver had a racist melt-down, spewing the slur and forcing the boy back and closing the doors. On Friday, Naqvi's family filed a lawsuit against the MTA in the Brooklyn Federal Court.
"[The child] said it as he was trying to find his card so he could get" home, said a lawyer representing the boy and his family according to The New York Post.
When the child got home, "he told his parents what happened, and they were obviously upset by it," said the attorney.
MTA reps met with the family and provided pictures of various drivers to identify the accused bigot, but the family was never told who the person was, the lawyer said.
The family is suing the agency and the driver for undisclosed damages on the charges of religious discrimination and civil-rights abuse.
"He's a young boy, but he's old enough to know what discrimination is," said the attorney.
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