Marine From Newark: How I Became ‘Just Another Muslim In America’

NEWARK, NJ — As a U.S. Marine, Affraz Mohammed thought he was fighting for the basic rights of his fellow citizens. And that’s partly why it hurt so much the day he realized he was “just another Muslim in America.”

Recently, Mohammed – a Newark native whose family still lives in Essex County – reached out to Patch to share his worries about police brutality and racial profiling in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

“This entire saga surrounding George Floyd’s murder has really gotten some old feelings stirred up,” said Mohammed, who served in the Marines for almost seven years before his honorable discharge in 2005.

Now, when he watches news reports about Floyd or the many other victims of police brutality in the U.S., it’s a bitter reminder of his own experience with racism.

“My life matters, and the government has not treated me as though it does,” Mohammed said.

It all began when he was five and moved to the U.S. from Trinidad and Tobago with his parents and 12 siblings.

While growing up in Newark, his Muslim background wasn’t an issue – although he was sometimes made fun of for being Indian, Mohammed told Union News Daily. Eventually, after seeing his older siblings and cousins sign up for the military, Mohammed decided to follow in their footsteps … with no reservations about the danger.

“Growing up watching another cousin murdered in the street and where violence was part of daily life, I figured that if I was killed in the military, my mother would receive a $250,000 check as opposed to dying in the street for nothing,” he told Union News Daily.

In 1997, right out of high school, Mohammed joined the Marines. It wasn’t long before he became enamored with core values such as “honor, courage and commitment.”

Soon, his military career began to flourish, Mohammed told Patch:

“In 2000, I was selected by senior enlisted soldiers to represent the Marine Corps by training with the Royal Marines of England at AP Hill in Virginia. I was given the esteemed position of participating in the Bush Inauguration as a driver. The detail was three months long — myself and 14 other Marines were responsible for driving and protecting high ranking military members, congressmen, senators and dignitaries. Another special detail I participated in was the HMX to guard the presidential helicopters in Quantico. I had the privilege to participate in a special assignment as a driver for the general and the sergeant major at the Marine Corps University. Although I was not an American citizen, I was hand-selected by my superiors because of my positive history, great work ethic, motivation and dedication. I even hand-delivered classified documents at the Marine Corps University during the critical time of anthrax attacks.”

But after the September 11 attacks in 2001, Mohammed began to find that people – including his peers – were looking at him differently.

“There has always been anti-Muslim sentiment in this country, but after the attacks of 9/11, Muslims were viewed very differently, even those of us who were serving our country with exemplary service records,” he said.

And then in August 2002, his future came to a crashing halt, Mohammed recalled.

While Mohammed was stationed at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, he became the target of an operation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), NJ.com reported.

On Aug. 28, Mohammed met with a fellow Marine to buy a 9 mm handgun that he could carry with a concealed weapon permit. It wasn’t anything unusual; Marines “always bought weapons off each other,” he said.

Although Mohammed wanted a 9 mm, the man persuaded him to buy a semi-automatic AK-47 instead, lowering his price to $160 to seal the deal.

“It wasn’t until afterward that I understood the weapon I purchased was a fully automatic weapon, not a semiautomatic, and was therefore illegal,” Mohammed wrote in a 2019 post for The New York Times Magazine.

And that’s when the feds moved in for the arrest, he said.

“At that moment, I was face down on the ground, handcuffed, surrounded by a half-dozen agents in body armor with their guns drawn,” Mohammed wrote. “What I knew in that terrifying moment was that I was being arrested for something serious — and that I was a brown-skinned Muslim with the last name Mohammed.”

As Mohammed wrote in the Times Magazine:

“I was taken to the NCIS offices at Quantico and interrogated. I was pressured to sign a confession that was typed up by an NCIS agent and stated that I had deliberately sought out an automatic weapon. I repeatedly denied that allegation. When I asked for a lawyer, the NCIS agent snatched the typed statement out of my hands and ended the interrogation. I was handed over to the custody of the ATF.”

Mohammed continued:

“Instead of escorting me to the brig on base, where arrested service members are normally held, the ATF officers drove me to the Alexandria Detention Center. Afterward, no officials would ever confirm the details of how I was treated there, so I can tell you only my own memory of the experience — and it is one I would rather forget. I was stripped naked, subjected to a body-cavity search and denied a phone call. They left me there for almost two days, without food, water or a bed — in the same jail where John Walker Lindh and Zacarias Moussaoui were being held.”

Watch a video of him speaking about the experience here.

When Mohammed was released, they put him on disciplinary restraint. While confined to the base, rumors began to spread and he started to get harassed by his peers, who warned him to "be careful of friendly fire," he said.

Eventually, Mohammed was court martialed and found not guilty after refusing to take a plea bargain. He received an honorable discharge, as well as an unwanted reminder of his military service: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Since leaving the Marine Corps, Mohammed – who now lives in Springfield – says he’s continued to experience harassment and discrimination from law enforcement officials.

In 2014, he got a visit from FBI agents who asked about his mosque and whether he’d heard or seen anything suspicious there. They also asked about Mohammed’s medication, which he’d been taking for his PTSD, as well as his mental health care history, NJ.com reported.

Since that time, Mohammed and his therapist at the Department of Veterans Affairs have experienced a series of largely unexplained check-ins, including in-person visits and phone calls by the FBI, local police and homeland security, NJ.com reported.

“I fought for Americans to have their basic rights — rights that were stripped away from me despite my innocence,” Mohammed told Patch. “Still, despite the isolation I felt for years, I’m one of the lucky ones. I will not be a victim, I will continue to speak and advocate so this injustice doesn’t happen to someone else.”

“I hope to continue advocating for not only Muslims, but anyone who has experienced profiling, discrimination or abuse,” Mohammed added. “Veterans just like me have died disgracefully without the chance to prove themselves innocent.”

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

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