*“Sickening,” is what one hateful Facebook user posted in response to video of a Brooklyn Civil Court judge being sworn in using a Koran.
“Is this America or the Middle East,” the user continued.
The routine municipal ceremony has become shrouded in controversy after Carolyn Walker-Diallo, who was elected last month in Brooklyn’s 7th Municipal District, took her oath of office Thursday using the holy book of Islam as a testament to her Muslim faith, NY Daily News reports.
After video of the swearing-in session hit social media, the backlash became so severe that some of Walker-Diallo’s supporters became concerned for her safety.
“Another piece of s— Muslim,” another racist user wrote, “trying to take over this country.”
Walker-Diallo is not the first Muslim judge to serve in the state. In 2013, Sheila Abdus-Salaam became the first black woman and first Muslim to sit on the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest judicial body.
Back in 2007, Keith Ellison made history when he became the first Muslim member of Congress, and highlighted the occasion by taking a ceremonial oath with a Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson.
“Look at that. That’s something else,” Ellison, D-Minn., said as officials from the Library of Congress showed him the two-volume Quran, which was published in London in 1764. According to the Washington Post, it was “acquired in 1815 as part of a more than 6,400-volume collection that Jefferson sold for $24,000 to replace the congressional library that had been burned by British troops during the War of 1812.”
Backlash over Walker-Diallo’s oath of office comes amid Donald Trump’s race baiting comments against Muslims and his proposal to prevent Muslim immigrants from coming to America.
“It’s really horrific what’s happening,” said Sadyia Khalique, director of operations for the New York chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations. “This is a proud moment for her, and to have this much criticism is just really sad. In our society, there is so much hate.”
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