Malaysian Engineer and Flag Mistaken for ISIS in America

A Malaysian engineer was accused for holding an American flag desecrated with ISIS symbols, and was charged for being affiliated with radical Islamic terrorism!

He was also accused of using the Spirit Boeing Employees’ Association (SBEA) lake to ‘hold an ISIS meeting’.

Munir Zanial, a Malaysian engineer who lives in the United States of America, held a party at Kansas city.

About 45 guests attended the event which took place in September 2017 and a majority of them are from Malaysia and of Indian ancestry.

Munir and his wife have been living in Wichita along with two young children since 2011. According to Munir, the party was held to celebrate Muslim celebration and Merdeka Day.

According to News Straits Times, SBEA filed a complaint against Munir and his friends for ‘desecrating the American flag with ISIS symbols’ and ‘planning radical Islamic terrorism activities’ on their property.

However, the American person actually misunderstood the whole flag situation. The flag he saw was actually the Malaysian flag!

Munir’s own employers in Spirit Aerosystems filed a complaint at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for this discriminatory issue.

After the FBI cleared Munir’s name in October 2017, SBEA hired a private investigator to investigate the case and terminated Munir’s rental benefits.

So, Munir got the help from The Kansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to file a federal lawsuit against the SBEA for racial profiling and religious discrimination.

ACLU released a statement which says:

“At no point in time did the SBEA personally discuss the allegations with (Munir) Zanial before terminating those benefits, and he was not notified of the termination until he again tried to reserve the recreational facilities at a later date.

“The ordeal has caused Zanial to experience a great deal of stress and anxiety.

“He is concerned that the investigation could affect his lawful permanent resident status and feels distress and humiliation based on this experience of being singled out because of his ethnicity, race and religion,”

Let’s hope that Munir can get justice for such an unlawful and discriminating accusation.

Written by: Chan Suet Yee