BOSNIAN AMERICAN IMMIGRANT FAMILY IN SHOCK AFTER HATE CRIME IN SARASOTA,FLORIDA
SARASOTA,USA - Police say a Bosnian American immigrant family is the victim of a hate crime in Sarasota,Florida.Hasib Sejfovic, his wife and two children fled to the United States to escape the 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia, but here they became victims again. Investigators say someone burned the Sejfovic home to the ground and spray painted anti-Islamic slurs on the outside and inside of the house.
"I want to thank everyone for offers of help," says Sejfovic.
The Muslim community along with other religious groups have reached out to assist the family. Ahmed Bedier, spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations says there needs to be a quick and decisive response to the crime.
"If leaders, elected officials and politicians don't step up and send a message to the public that acts like this will not be tolerated then they will continue to happen, and that's a huge concern for us," Bedier says.
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The Sarasota Sheriff's Office says their domestic security task force, which works with the FBI and FDLE, is investigating the crime. Police believe this is an isolated incident.
"It's a concern.Something like this is unusual for our community. It has been assigned to our investigations bureau," Lt. Chuck Lesaltato said.
The family is worried about further incidents, but they are genocide survivors who are working to put the pieces of their life back together. Despite this traumatic experience, the Sejfovic's say they haven't lost their love for the United States.
"I think the American people is great," says Sejdefa Sejfovic. "Everywhere has bad people that do things like this but thank God we have people around us who love us,who offer to help."
