Chicago Public Radio: Muslim Business run out of Town?

A Muslim advocacy group says village officials in a suburb southwest of Chicago tried to run a Muslim business owner out of town.

The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is bringing a lawsuit against the village of Worth, Illinois, on behalf Ala Alsherbini, who owned a hookah lounge and cafe.

CAIR says village officials hit Alsherbini with trumped up code violations. For example, attorney Christina Abraham says the village fined Alsherbini for beer cans near his property.

ABRAHAM: His business was in a plaza and right next door was a liquor store and he didn't sell alcohol nor did he allow people to bring it in to his cafe, and the logical conclusion would be that it was coming from patrons of the liquor store right next door, yet he would always be getting the fines and notices of violations for those things.

Abraham says police would also stop in shortly before closing to make sure Alsherbini closed up on time. The village did not immediately return calls for comment.