Hate Crime or Publicity Stunt in Fairfield,Iowa Beating?

Usama Alshaibi, 41, of Fairfield, Iowa was beaten Saturday night. He alleges that it was because he is of Arab decent and his name is Usama. Alshaibi was born in Baghdad, Iraq and became an American citizen in 2002. He spent 16 years in Chicago while his wife attended Maharishi International University. They moved to Fairfield, Iowa in July of last year.

Alshaibi said he is working on a film project about discrimination of Arabs in America. This leads some people to ask if the beat down was a publicity stunt. Did he possibly put himself in harms way on purpose? When asked if the incident would be a part of his film for Kartemquin Films of Chicago, he said "of course".

The Incident

Alshaibi had dinner and drinks with a friend earlier in the evening. He said he was walking home and he heard loud music coming from a house and asked a woman in the yard if there was a party going on. Uninvited and unannounced, Alshaibi walked into a stranger's house. His version is that he was asked what his name was and he told them Usama. He alleges that approx. 4 men started beating him on the head and neck and called him Osama bin Laden.

Some fuzzy facts and unanswered questions.

It isn't clear from the Des Moines Register article where Alshaibi's wife was during the beat down. He can't remember what house he was in. His excuse for barging into someone else's house is that he wanted to "get to know" his neighbors. If he himself was drinking, how drunk was he? Did he purposely get the 4 men riled? Did he give a description of the attackers to police?

The article also said that he was treated at the scene for minor injuries, followed up by tests at a hospital on Sunday. He was allegedly found in a parking lot. How did he get there?

On Monday, a Muslim Advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations were already calling for investigations by the FBI. How did they get wind of the story so quickly?

Hate crime or publicity stunt?

No one in Iowa supports hate. That being said, does being called Osama bin Laden equate to a hate crime? Is it just a coincidence that he is working on a film about discrimination against Arabs or was this planned to get attention drawn to the film?

Parting thought:

Even in Iowa, you cannot just walk into a stranger's house uninvited. There are consequences to not using your head. They don't hinge on whether you're Arab or not.

DesMoines Register
Metro