A Muslim man plans to file a lawsuit this week against a Michigan orchard after he and his family were racially profiled and interrogated by the orchard owner, who bragged about being a bigot and claimed Muslims “are always stealing” after he barged into and searched their vehicle for stolen fruit.
Joe Mahmoud made a lengthy Facebook post Monday about his family’s excursion to Erie Orchards & Cider Mill in Monroe County that gained nearly 3,000 shares, over 1,000 reactions, and more than 800 comments by Wednesday afternoon.
“I wish I didn’t have to write this, but yesterday’s unfortunate incident compelled me to share my story and ask for your support,” Mahmoud wrote.
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According to attorney Abdallah Moughni, Mahmoud, his wife, who was wearing a hijab, and their three daughters went to the orchard on Sunday to pick apples and buy apple cider, spending a total of around $60.
However, Mahmoud’s daughters—ranging from 8 years to 6 months—also wanted to pick peaches, but one of the employees at the orchard advised them that all of the peaches were rotten. Nonetheless, Mahmoud’s daughters wanted the experience of picking peaches regardless of whether they were edible, and the person working told them not to worry about paying for any they found because they probably would have been bad.
“[Mahmoud] actually had a fairly decent experience until he met with the owner,” Moughni told The Daily Beast in an interview Wednesday.
Joe Mahmoud and his family picking fruit.
Courtesy of Joe MahmoudMoughni said Mahmoud took the bag of fruit and drove back to the main area of the orchard, when the owner, Steve Elzinga, approached the vehicle.
Elzinga, who is white, allegedly demanded Mahmoud pay for the small bag of peaches and opened the backdoor of the vehicle where the kids were and went through the youngest daughter’s diaper bag to search for more fruit.
Mahmoud said that he would’ve been fine with paying for the rotten peaches until he realized the owner was trying to charge the family $58.
“We had a small bag of fruit which is clearly posted inside as $2.49 a pound,” Mahmoud wrote in the Facebook post. “I would’ve needed almost 24 pounds of fruit to equal $58!!”
After telling Elzinga that he didn’t want the peaches at all and gave them back, that’s when the owner allegedly went on an Islamophobic tirade and Mahmoud began recording.
“Every Muslim that comes in here steals from me,” Elzinga is heard in the video. “And that’s why you’re going to pay.”
“That’s racist,” Mahmoud says. “You’re a racist.”
“Oh, of course I am,” Elzinga chuckles and says he doesn’t want Muslims back at his orchard. Then, Elzinga stands by Mahmoud’s truck seemingly trying to prevent him from leaving after claiming he had called the police.
“You’re holding me hostage here,” Mahmoud tells the owner.
“I’m holding you until you pay your bill,” Elzinga responds.
“My client was held up for 45 minutes trying to leave,” Moughni told The Daily Beast. “He was being berated for the whole 45 minutes in front of his kids with these racist remarks... and at one point, when my client was trying to back up, [Elzinga] pressed his body against the car to prevent [Mahmoud] from leaving. So, [Elzinga] truly falsely imprisoned him.”
In an interview with local outlet ABC 7 Detroit, Elzinga said he had issues with Muslims who didn’t pay and was frustrated at the time. He also said he wasn’t ashamed of the comments he made in Mahmoud’s video. However, in a separate interview with Fox 2 Detroit, Elzinga changed the tune to his very Islamaphobic song.
“I blew it. Obviously, a lot of my customers are Muslims, and they are not all thieves,” he told the outlet, but accused many of thinking they should get free fruit.
“I was at my wit’s end, and I said things that I want to apologize for,” Elzinga added. “I don’t mean all Muslims are bad. Many of them are my friends and long-term customers.”
The orchard owner also claimed he felt threatened and was scared for his life because Mahmoud told him he had a gun in the car. However, Moughni said his client did not have a gun in the car, didn’t do anything to make Elzinga feel as if he had one, and did not make any sort of threatening remarks.
Elzinga did not immediately return The Daily Beast’s requests for comment Wednesday.
Since the ordeal, the Facebook page for Erie Orchards & Cider Mills has been removed, and its Yelp profile has been bombarded with negative reviews.
“It just seems like [Elzinga’s] very prideful and boastful about what he did,” Moughni said, adding that Mahmoud wants the family to receive therapy after the traumatizing incident.
“[Mahmoud] was calm because he was a little scared. He felt if he said the wrong thing, if he made the wrong move, this guy could have possibly done something awful to him, even killed him in front of his family,” Moughni said. “So, for the safety of his family, he truly stayed as calmly as possible while this man was berating him, and we could have a totally different headline right now if he acted any differently.”
