Summer Sundas “Sunny” Naqvi, right, said she was detained by federal immigration officials upon her arrival at O’Hare International Airport. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials and local officials in Wisconsin, where Naqvi said she was held in custody, are disputing her account. Sister Sarah Afzal is at left. (Sarah Afzal)
A Wisconsin sheriff announced a defamation lawsuit Friday against a Cook County politician and a Skokie woman who recently claimed that federal immigration officials detained her at three locations for about 48 hours, including a jail in Dodge County, Wisconsin.
Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt is suing in his individual capacity, alleging damage to his reputation as a result of Summer Sundas “Sunny” Naqvi’s harrowing story that he sought to debunk during a one-hour news conference in the afternoon. In his remarks, he accused Naqvi, who was born in Evanston, and Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, a family friend, of spreading “unverified, uncorroborated and misleading” claims, but said he could not identify any Wisconsin laws they broke.
“At no point was Sundas Naqvi in the custody of the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office,” Schmidt said. “This is a serious accusation, and when it is not true, it does real damage. It damages the trust between law enforcement and the community. It unfairly puts a target on the backs of officers.”
Naqvi, her lawyer and Morrison did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
Last month, Naqvi’s story of disembarking from a flight at O’Hare International Airport, where she and supporters alleged she was held for about 30 hours before being transferred to a notorious processing center in west suburban Broadview and then to the Dodge County detention center, made international headlines. She and her family said she’d been released from the jail in the early hours of March 7, where she’d had to hitchhike to a nearby Holiday Inn and call relatives to pick her up.
But Schmidt said his office had no record of Naqvi getting booked into the facility. His lawsuit alleges Naqvi and Morrison’s claims about her alleged detention in the Dodge County jail “were and are false.”
Schmidt is an elected sheriff and his lawsuit alleges Naqvi and Morrison caused “reputational harm and damages” as he prepares for a re-election campaign this year.
“As a result of Defendants’ actions, the false allegations made quickly became the subject of widespread news coverage,” the lawsuit alleges. “News reports detailing the allegations were published and disseminated throughout Wisconsin and Illinois media outlets, as well as nationally distributed news media.”
An attorney representing Naqvi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit also lists 10 unnamed “John Does” as defendants. The lawsuit describes those defendants as people who live outside of Wisconsin and whose identities are not known but who “participated in the publication or republication of defamatory statements, and whose true names will be substituted when discovered.”
Schmidt’s office was one of three agencies that disputed or cast doubt on Naqvi’s story. Cook County Sheriff’s deputies searched the building in Broadview the Friday Naqvi’s supporters said she was there but couldn’t find her or her luggage inside. And the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a statement calling her story “blatantly false,” saying Naqvi had arrived at O’Hare around 10:20 a.m. March 5 and left about an hour and a half later.
“(U.S. Customs and Border Protection) did NOT transfer any individuals to Broadview or perform any phone detentions from her flight on Thursday, March 5th,” an agency spokesperson told the Tribune in a written statement Thursday night.
Naqvi’s supporters, including Morrison, a former congressional candidate, have largely stuck with her — pointing out that DHS officials have repeatedly peddled false information about its actions throughout President Donald Trump’s second administration — but have increasingly retreated from reporters’ questions. They have pointed repeatedly to screenshots showing Naqvi’s location data at different points throughout the two-day period she was allegedly held.
Posts
