WHERE: California Highway Police (CHP) Headquarters, 455 Eighth Street (between Harrison and Bryant St.) in San Francisco

WHEN: Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 12PM

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee (ADC) along with several other community groups and civil rights organizations will call for a full and immediate investigation into the California Highway Patrol (CHP)'s violent arrest of 11-year-old Sophia Ibrahim during a protest on the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday, May 25. The incident resulted in physical injury and mental trauma to the young fifth grader. Calling this the latest shameful chapter in a decades-old history of CHP mishandling of nonviolent protesters, the organizations are demanding:

1. An immediate and thorough investigation into the disruption of a peaceful protest and the use of physical violence and pepper spray against protesters at the Golden Gate Bridge on Sat., May 25

2. That any officers involved in the incident beheld accountable for their actions and punished to the full extent of the law

3. Public disclosure of a full report on the incident, including the identity of each police officer involved and the action taken against them, details of CHP crowd control guidelines, and all information on how the reaction to this demonstration was formulated

4. Active community participation in developing new CHP guidelines and procedures on dealing with peaceful demonstrations

5. Sensitivity training for CHP officers, focusing on communities that have been targets of hate crimes and violence during the war on terrorism, including Muslim, Arab and South Asian communities.

WHO: Sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), National Lawyer's Guild (NLG), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Ella Baker Center, Intergroup Clearinghouse, and All People's Coalition. Also in attendance will be Sophia Ibrahim.