Muslim Community rallies around Cambridge middle schooler following attack

May 8, 2024

Rob Flaks,

CAMBRIDGE, MD. – Following an attack on a 12-year-old Mace’s Lane Middle School student in which classmates ripped off her hijab, members of the Muslim community in DC, Baltimore, and Philidelphia came out to Cambridge to host a community BBQ and educational event to show support for her and raise positive awareness of Islam.

“We come out, we educate the people. You know, we’ll give you our shirt off our back and will help whoever it can be, and this isn’t just about helping we came for the Muslim child, but this is about other people and about, you know, we were told that other kids were being bullied in general,” said Sabur Carter of Masjid Al-Hidaayah of Germantown MD.

The student; 12-year-old Tori Gibbs, her mother Latoya Gibbs, and faith-based leaders including a group of representatives from Masjid Ad-Da’wah Ilat Tawhid,
a Baltimore-based Islamic Mosque led by their Imam, Raha Batts meeting with the Dorchester County Superintendent Wednesday before the event to discuss how the district could better handle their response and prevent future incidents.

Gibbs says she’s touched by the support she’s receiving, and the community coming out in full force.

“Seeing all the people and talking to the Muslims that came down from really far and talking to them. Cause that’s kind of exciting, cause you don’t see a lot of Muslims down here,’ she said, adding that she hopes the school district steps up.

“I hope they could just, like, listen better, cause even when the students don’t report stuff and the parents talk to them, they’d be like, Oh, well, yeah, we understand that’s happening, but we can’t do nothing about it. You can at least try to help the situation in school and on the bus better for other people,” she said.

Batts tells 47ABC that he wants to see the district take all forms of bullying seriously, especially if a student is being attacked for who they are.

“This is a problem not just in this district, but know nationwide is the issue. And so where we spoke to the importance of trying to come up with solutions to remove the lack of intervention, because if it’s not Tori, it’ll be somebody else,” Batts said adding he’d like to see sensitivity training for staff on how to handle issues like these in the future.

During the cookout Gibbs, reconciled with one of the classmates, who had pulled off her Hijab. Gibb’s mother says the students behind the attack need to know that they did more than just attack her daughter or remove an item of clothing.

“To pull it off is extremely hurtful and I think a lot of people need to understand the importance of not doing that and it’s for us to be covered,” she said.

Carter the cookout they hope can be a positive way of letting the community get to know Islam and turn something hurtful into a learning moment.

“We believe that Islam is a beautiful religion,” he said adding “We believe in coming face to face with people and spreading what Islam is truly about. So that there’s an awareness of the good of Islam and what it truly represents.”

In a statement to WMDT the Dorchester County School said the following: