Muslim family's encounter with Gwinnett police goes viral

A Muslim woman's interactions with Gwinnett police officers Thanksgiving weekend went viral after she was "pleasantly surprised with the cultural sensitivity and courtesy shown by everyone."

Credit: Courtesy of Zanub Rizvi / Facebook

Credit: Courtesy of Zanub Rizvi / Facebook

A Muslim woman's interactions with Gwinnett police officers Thanksgiving weekend went viral after she was "pleasantly surprised with the cultural sensitivity and courtesy shown by everyone."

A Muslim woman's interaction with Gwinnett police officers over Thanksgiving weekend has gone viral for all the best reasons.

In a Facebook post Nov. 29, Zanub Rizvi wrote that she was driving her daughter and mother-in-law to a religious gathering when she was rear-ended.

All the police officers and paramedics that responded to the accident were white males, she said.

She said it was "obvious" from their dress that they were a Muslim family, but she was "surprised" by how they treated to her.

"I don't want to be disrespectful," a white male Gwinnett cop told Rizvi's mother-in-law, according to Rizvi. "Ma'am, is it ok if I check your neck?"

After some translation, the mother-in-law lifted her scarf so the police officer could survey her injuries.

Rizvi wrote that the paramedics that arrived later were equally respectful.

"I was pleasantly surprised with the cultural sensitivity and courtesy shown by everyone, especially being in the Deep South," she wrote.

"People who request services from the Gwinnett County Police Department can expect our officers to handle a situation impartially and with empathy, no matter their personal circumstances," the police department said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Zanub Rizvi did not respond to requests for comment.

The post has been shared over 87,000 times since late November.

"Just thought that with all the hate being spread in the news, I'd share something nice," she wrote.