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Elderly Armenian Couple Targeted with Racist Letter
14:49, 9 May, 2013
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian National Committee of America
- Greater Washington (ANCA-GW) today called upon police and postal
authorities to fully investigate and prosecute an anti-Armenian threat
against an elderly Rockville couple of Armenian heritage, ANCA
informed Armenpress.
An envelope addressed to A. Sahagian included a news clipping (see
attached image) about the recent Boston Marathon bombing, with the
handwritten message: "Another Armenian Bastard," pointing to a
discredited link between this act of terrorism and what the news story
incorrectly referenced as "an Armenian man named 'Misha.'"
"We call upon federal and local authorities to immediately investigate
and fully prosecute those responsible for this hate crime," said
ANCA-Greater Washington spokesperson Sevan Kolejian. "This hateful act
of intolerance and intimidation also serves to remind the media of the
human price innocent citizens are paying for their flagrant and
repeated misreporting of the 'Misha' story."
Ara and Salpee Sahagian are both long-time residents of Maryland,
having served in the lay leadership of Bethesda's Soorp Khatch
Armenian Apostolic Church, and as active members in a range of
community and civic organizations. A U.S. Army veteran, Ara worked for
four decades as an engineer for the Department of the Navy and U.S.
Marine Corps. His wife, Salpee, worked at the Library of Congress and
later served as an aide to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield.
In the days following the Boston Marathon bombing, Armenian Americans
protested news outlets that repeated the unsubstantiated, and now
fully discredited, allegation by the uncle of the two suspects, Ruslan
Tsarni, that they were somehow inspired to commit these crimes by an
ethnic Armenian convert to Islam. News reports later identified
'Misha' as Mikhail Allakhverdov, an Armenian-Ukrainian from
Azerbaijan, whose family fled anti-Armenian persecution in the early
1990's.
The ANCA-Greater Washington, DC has reached out to local churches and
community groups to collect information regarding any other reported
instances of anti-Armenian hatred, and calls upon all Armenian
Americans to report documented cases of anti-Armenian hate crime.
14:49, 9 May, 2013
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian National Committee of America
- Greater Washington (ANCA-GW) today called upon police and postal
authorities to fully investigate and prosecute an anti-Armenian threat
against an elderly Rockville couple of Armenian heritage, ANCA
informed Armenpress.
An envelope addressed to A. Sahagian included a news clipping (see
attached image) about the recent Boston Marathon bombing, with the
handwritten message: "Another Armenian Bastard," pointing to a
discredited link between this act of terrorism and what the news story
incorrectly referenced as "an Armenian man named 'Misha.'"
"We call upon federal and local authorities to immediately investigate
and fully prosecute those responsible for this hate crime," said
ANCA-Greater Washington spokesperson Sevan Kolejian. "This hateful act
of intolerance and intimidation also serves to remind the media of the
human price innocent citizens are paying for their flagrant and
repeated misreporting of the 'Misha' story."
Ara and Salpee Sahagian are both long-time residents of Maryland,
having served in the lay leadership of Bethesda's Soorp Khatch
Armenian Apostolic Church, and as active members in a range of
community and civic organizations. A U.S. Army veteran, Ara worked for
four decades as an engineer for the Department of the Navy and U.S.
Marine Corps. His wife, Salpee, worked at the Library of Congress and
later served as an aide to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield.
In the days following the Boston Marathon bombing, Armenian Americans
protested news outlets that repeated the unsubstantiated, and now
fully discredited, allegation by the uncle of the two suspects, Ruslan
Tsarni, that they were somehow inspired to commit these crimes by an
ethnic Armenian convert to Islam. News reports later identified
'Misha' as Mikhail Allakhverdov, an Armenian-Ukrainian from
Azerbaijan, whose family fled anti-Armenian persecution in the early
1990's.
The ANCA-Greater Washington, DC has reached out to local churches and
community groups to collect information regarding any other reported
instances of anti-Armenian hatred, and calls upon all Armenian
Americans to report documented cases of anti-Armenian hate crime.