March 1, 2023

To the Honorable Judge

United States District Court

Eastern District of Texas

We, the undersigned community members and supporters of Ali Danial Hemani from Dallas and around the country, would like to express our shock and outrage at his recent arrest and prolonged detention. Hemani, as he is affectionately referred to by his friends, is a 25-year old American citizen who grew up in Carrollton, Texas and graduated from nearby Creekview High School in June 2015. Four years later in 2019, Hemani, graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems and worked as a Project Manager at Plasma Computing Group until his arrest. 

Hemani’s parents, both of whom are American citizens, are hard-working individuals – his mother works at a local day care and his father is a project manager for a Tech company. In his free time, Hemani enjoys spending time with his family, tutoring kids, working out, playing basketball and flag football, and traveling. Hemani is a friend to many – he enjoys spending time with his friends and maintaining relationships that have lasted decades.

From what we understand, in August 2020, Hemani's family was contacted by law enforcement regarding their connections with Iran. Law enforcement alleged that the family was involved in funding the Iranian military and had ties to the government, which is completely false. Rather, it is essential to note that the family's visits to Iran every other year were to visit their other son/elder brother who is still studying at a famous and well-known Shi’a Muslim religious seminary in Qum, Iran (where close to 100 other American Shia Muslims are currently enrolled) and to perform Ziyarah, a highly recommended holy pilgrimage for millions of Shia Muslims worldwide. In fact, on September 30, 2021, the US Treasury Department created a legal carve-out exemption for religious pilgrims from the US to the Imam Reza Shrine despite sanctions against Iran, so Americans could visit without fear of prosecution.[1]

So both of these, travel for Ziyarah and studying in Qum, are highly common in the American Sh’ia Muslim community, as the former is a highly rewarded and personal spiritual act and the latter is one of the only ways to become a Shia religious preacher, where students enroll with the goal of serving their Shi’a faith communities here at home in the USA. In fact, there are only 2 major religious learning centers in the world for Shi’a Muslims to earn the designation of religious cleric (‘Alim) – Qum, Iran and Najaf, Iraq.

As a result of this unwarranted scrutiny, the Hemani home was raided in May 2022, during which Hemani’s legally owned firearm and a small amount of a controlled substance were found and confiscated. These findings resulted in no disciplinary actions in 2022.

On February 10, 2023, Hemani was pulled over for a routine traffic stop and was informed that there was a federal warrant out for his arrest. He was immediately taken into custody, and bail was denied on the grounds that he was a danger to society and a flight risk, even though he and his attorneys offered to turn over his passport. The authorities claimed that Hemani had been indoctrinated with his mother's “radical ideology”, a gross assertion made from a Facebook post on Eid Al Adha where she praised Prophet Abraham for his willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmaeel for God, a common sentiment on the most important religious holiday for Muslims around the world. Furthermore, the authorities distorted Hemani’s clean record, arguing that his lack of criminal activity made him a perfect person to “act out” and his well-paying job gave him the means to forge a passport. These ridiculous arguments are a clear indication that the government has no legitimate reason to hold him.

In fact, the obscure federal law that criminalizes possession of a legal firearm and a controlled substance and carries a maximum sentence of 15 years, has just recently been declared unconstitutional by a federal judge in the neighboring state of Oklahoma just last month.[2] 

Hemani’s arrest is unjust and is a clear violation of his constitutional rights as an American citizen. With the pertinent facts shared above, it is apparent that Hemani has been denied bail and is being held without trial simply because of his religious and cultural background. Hemani, like every other American citizen, deserves equal protection under the law and to be deemed innocent before proven guilty by having his freedom back while he awaits trial.

We thank you for taking the time to read this petition in support of Ali Danial Hemani and request that he be released pending trial.

#FreeHemani

 

1.     https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/faqs/932

2.     https://www.buckeyefirearms.org/judge-oklahoma-rules-ban-gun-possession-marijuana-users-unconstitutional