Community members far and wide are calling upon the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney's office AND the City Attorney's office in Vancouver, WA to immediately dismiss all charges against Hanif Collins, a resident and reputable business owner who was assaulted by two men allegedly participating in a nearby protest.  

On Sept 20, Hanif passed an active protest in front of a church near his shop. Several protestors engaged him for not covering his nose with his face mask. Some angry words were exchanged on both sides and Hanif continued to his shop further down the block. He was followed by two white male protestors who physically accosted him, and pointed a weapon at him while barring him from entering his business. 

Watch the videos - https://youtu.be/yNN25-4Bv7w and https://youtu.be/QExxaG1_uFo

GoFundMe - gf.me/u/y2fai2.

See the update below!

The police arrived and arrested Hanif but not the two men, at least one of whom was found to be carrying a concealed gun and a pepper spray delivery device. Hanif, a Black, Latino, Muslim, husband and father, whose business is open to all, including the LGBTQ community, was held overnight on a pending charge of malicious harassment, which is essentially a hate crime. Additionally, while at the county jail, Hanif was denied a blanket for sleeping and breakfast. 

Eyewitnesses are prepared to give statements that Hanif was not the instigator of this incident, and the police acknowledge that the aggressor had a brandished a weapon. It is ludicrous that Hanif would be charged. 

In this time when people of color, and Black men in particular, are at such high and often targeted risk for being the victims of violence, a more thorough assessment of the situation should have occurred, instead of enabling racial biases to prevail by arresting the black man. We are all keenly aware of the fact that had the situation been reversed, and two black men were accosting and threatening a white business owner in front of his business, with or without a weapon, the outcome would have been very different.

We are calling on the Vancouver City Attorney's Office to dismiss all charges against Hanif immediately. He and his family, and business have suffered enough.  

---

Contact for City and State officials.

• Tony Golik, Clark County Prosecuting Attorney prosecutor@clark.wa.gov | (360) 397-2261
• Jonathan Young, Vancouver City Attorney - vanlaw@cityofvancouver.us | (360) 487-8500
• Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, U.S. Congresswoman (WA-03) | @herrerabeutler (Twitter) | (360) 695-6292