Staff at Kamala Harris campaign event accused of racism after barring women wearing hijabs

Las Vegas, Nevada - Staff at Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign event in Las Vegas on Saturday have been accused of blocking access to two attendees who were wearing hijabs.

Vice President Kamala Harris has been urged to respond to accusations that two women in hijabs were blocked from attending her campaign event in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Vice President Kamala Harris has been urged to respond to accusations that two women in hijabs were blocked from attending her campaign event in Las Vegas on Saturday.  © JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

In a now-viral clip shared on Tuesday by Nevadans for Palestinian Liberation shows a woman filming another wearing a headscarf. The two are asking why they had been denied entrance to a Harris campaign event at the IBEW Local 357 union hall, for which they had already registered and received wristbands.

"I'm letting you know that you've been disinvited from the event," a staff member says.

The two women repeatedly press state and county Democratic Party staff to explain why they are not allowed inside, but never receive a response.

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"They're disinviting us because we have hijabs on our heads," the woman with the camera says.

Others in line behind the two women are seen passing through the entrance to the event without issue.

"You don't have an explanation, so therefore it is racist and Islamophobic," one of the women insists.

An aide said in a later statement: "As a policy, the campaign will disinvite individuals known to have disrupted prior events."

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Protesters wave Palestinian flags in front of the White House as they call on the Biden administration to stop funding Israel's bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza.  © Drew Angerer / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

One of the women in the video, who preferred not to share her name, denied causing a disruption at any prior campaign event.

"At an event championing women's rights, I was targeted by the Biden-Harris team because I am a hijabi woman. I have never disrupted a political event in my life and any insinuation of me doing so is categorically inaccurate," she said in a statement.

"I voted for Biden and Harris in 2020 because I thought they stood with the Muslim community against hate," she continued. "The violence of the Muslim ban is not just through Trump's administration; Biden and Harris implemented a domestic Muslim ban that day by not allowing hijabis into their events."

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"With what happened, I know I will not be voting for Democrats this election."

The statement comes as Biden and Harris face growing dissatisfaction from Arab, Muslim, Black, and youth voters. Many object to the administration's unwavering military and diplomatic support for Israel's assault on Gaza, which has claimed the lives of at least 26,751 Palestinians to date.

Cover photo: JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

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