By TRAVIS LOLLER
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Nashville man is suing a security company whose employees demanded he remove a religious cap before entering the local juvenile court building.
Rashid al-Qadir claims guards violated his First Amendment right to the free exercise of his religion by telling him he could not wear the cap, called a kufi. Al-Qadir says he offered to remove the kufi for inspection but then wanted to put it back on.
The guards refused and al-Qadir says he left voluntarily because he was afraid of being arrested or hurt.
Attorneys for G4S Secure Solutions (USA) Inc. do not dispute al-Qadir's account of the April 11, 2011, events. Instead, they argue the suit should be dismissed because al-Qadir cannot prove his claim that the guards were acting on behalf of the government.
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