by Julie Zauzmer

May 9, 2017

 

When Symi Rom-Rymer heard about a family in Fairfax County that found their home broken into and “F— Muslims” scrawled on their walls, she wished she could do something to help. When it was a nearby Jewish Community Center and then a church vandalized with swastikas, again she wondered how she might fight the hate.

Now, Rom-Rymer is organizing a team of volunteers who will be prepared to spring into action when a religiously or racially motivated hate crime occurs in the Washington area.

“Whenever there is an incident, our response is going to be in person,” said Rom-Rymer, who works as a community organizer for the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington. She envisions the team’s aid as direct and personal. “If a woman who is wearing a hijab feels unsafe walking from her car to her mosque, she or someone in her community can contact us and say, ‘I feel unsafe. Can you send someone out?’ And we would go.”

 

Full article:

www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/05/09/new-rapid-response-team-plans-to-confront-hate-crimes-in-the-d-c-area/?utm_term=.414ea4156e04