PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A new lawsuit filed against the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office claims that the officers “forcibly” removed hijabs from two Muslim women and photographed them without the head coverings while in custody.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), claims that sisters Serine Abuelhawa and Marjannah Hassan were arrested during a protest at the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade in 2024.

After their arrests, the lawsuit claims the sisters were taken to the Multnomah County Detention Center, where they were separated and, during booking, were forced to remove their religious headscarves in front of male officers.

When recounting their arrest experiences, Abuelhawa and Hassan shared similar experiences of officers lifting clothing revealing their skin and hair against their wishes, and both shared feelings of being violated by the officers, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims Hassan shared feeling like she had no choice as officers continued prodding her to remove her hijab, and eventually she relented, allowing her photos to be taken. The lawsuit then stated Hassan was left exposed in a waiting area for nearly eight hours without her hijab.

During that time, Hassan was offered food by an officer and was given a ham sandwich, according to the lawsuit.

Ham, and anything that touches ham, is forbidden as part of the Islamic diet, and the lawsuit states Hassan was only able to eat a piece of cheese, which was separate from the sandwich.

While waiting, Hassan said she asked several times where her sister was and was told she was taken to solitary confinement because she refused to remove her hijab, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims Abuelhawa said she resisted taking off her hijab, eventually letting a female officer pat her down, but during that time, officers revealed different parts of her body in the presence of male officers.

The lawsuit claims at one point, an officer told Abuelhawa that because she was in jail, she “no longer had the right to wear her hijab anymore.”

Eventually, Abuelhawa was allowed to be taken to a private cell, where she removed her hijab for an officer, according to the lawsuit, which added she was left in the cell uncovered for four hours and never told why she was there.

The lawsuit states that Abuelhawa was offered a pork bologna sandwich, which she couldn’t eat due to her religious beliefs.

After nearly eight hours, Hassan was led to retrieve her belongings, including her hijab, which she said she wasn’t given time to put on before officers escorted her from the building, according to the lawsuit.

Nearly two hours later, after being fingerprinted and marched around the building uncovered, Abuelhawa said she was escorted by a male officer to retrieve her belongings and she was able to put her hijab on again, according to the lawsuit.

CAIR Deputy Litigation Director Gadeir Abbas called the situation a “violation of their dignity.”

“Forcing these young women to remove their hijabs was a clear violation of their dignity and religious freedom,” said Abbas. “It is unacceptable that the county still retains these violative photographs.”

According to the suit, although all charges against the sisters were dropped, the booking photos still remain in law enforcement databases, which can be accessed by all law enforcement agencies in Oregon.

The lawsuit claims the actions violated the women’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights as well as civil rights statutes protecting religious freedom.

“Protecting Muslim women doesn’t require complex policies or major resources—it simply requires basic respect,” said CAIR Staff Attorney Aya Beydoun. “A private room, a female officer, and simply allowing them to wear their hijabs in the photo would have prevented this entirely. The law demands better, and so should we.”

Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell, as well as three unnamed female officers, are listed in the lawsuit for violating the sister’s rights.

According to CAIR, jail and prison facilities across the United States at all levels allow Muslim women to wear hijabs while in custody, including in booking photographs.

The lawsuit calls for the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office to delete the photos taken of the sisters and to create a policy change stopping officers from taking photos of Muslim women without their hijabs.

When asked for a comment, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office told KOIN 6 that they don’t comment on pending litigation.