A man who berated and insulted three Muslim women while they prayed at a metro Atlanta shopping center offered a public apology Friday after a video of the interaction went viral.
The incident took place Sunday in the parking deck of the Avalon, an upscale dining and retail center in Alpharetta. A man — who has now identified himself as Perry Greene — shouted profanities at the women.
“You’re worshipping a false God” and “Go back to your country,” he said, according to a copy of a video provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution by the women’s lawyers.
A video of the encounter circulated on various social media channels and caught the attention of a leading Muslim civil rights group, which called on the police to investigate.
On Friday, Greene apologized.
“I came today just to meet with the young ladies that I was mean to and treated disrespectfully about their religion and about what they were doing,” he said, during a news conference held at Masjid Jafar Aj-Rahmah Community Center, about 4 miles from the Avalon.
He added: “I just wanted them to know that I humbly apologize to them because nobody should be treated that way, and that’s not the right way for us to treat anybody with any differences.”
Greene is the ex-husband of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Rome Republican known for her own controversies and who has been accused of making anti-Muslim comments in the past. Marjorie Greene’s office declined to comment on the video.
Perry Greene delivered his brief public apology while the women who recorded him stood nearby. The women’s attorneys identified them only by their first names — Amna, Nesrine and Amira — and the women did not take any questions during the news conference.
“Hopefully they’ll find it in their hearts to forgive me, and we shouldn’t allow that in our society,” said Greene, who also did not take any questions.
Before his remarks, he attended a prayer service at the center.
Attorney Fari Zejnelovic, who was hired by the women, told the AJC that his clients went to shop at the Avalon on the first day of Eid al-Fitr, an Islamic holiday marking the end of Ramadan.
The women had laid out mats near their parked vehicle to pray. The prayer takes about three minutes, and the women were not in anyone’s way, Zejnelovic said. Greene happened to walk by while on the way to his Tesla Cybertruck, according to Zejnelovic.
Zejnelovic said the women have been “traumatized” by the encounter. He added that they were born in the United States and grew up in the area near the shopping center.
“The victims pulled out their phones in attempts to protect themselves. They didn’t have any weapons on them, so they said, ‘Hey, if we record this, maybe it will stop him from harassing us,‘” Zejnelovic said.
Ali Awad, another attorney for the women, said Greene reached out after the video began circulating online and offered to meet with and apologize to the women.
The Georgia chapter for The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) called upon the Alpharetta Police Department to investigate the incident. A department spokesperson said police were aware of the video, but that no crime was committed.
“The comments made in the video circulating on the internet are disgusting and do not reflect the diversity and understanding that Alpharetta values. However, in our community all speech is protected — even the speech we may not agree with,” a statement from the department reads.
Azka Mahmood, executive director for CAIR Georgia, said the video should be a wake-up call as advocates monitor anti-Muslim activity nationwide. She expressed shock that police did not bring criminal charges, but said she was grateful Greene had the “self accountability and the courage” to attend the mosque to apologize.
“As a community, we take this opportunity to open the doors of forgiveness for Mr. Greene the way that we have been taught as Muslims. We are not looking for revenge,” Mahmood said.
Staff writer Tia Mitchell contributed to this article.
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