A Muslim woman was set on fire just before the anniversary of 9/11 while shopping Saturday night on fifth avenue.
The woman, a Scottish tourist enjoying the weekend, noticed her sleeve was on fire and was able to quickly put it out.
Thankfully, she wasn’t badly injured. According to the New York Daily News, she was able to catch a glimpse of her attacker before he got away. One source said, “She saw (the suspect) pull a lighter away and walk away. He didn’t say anything.”
The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is currently looking into the attack, but have yet to determine if the incident was motivated by bias toward Muslims.
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Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, called for a full investigation, stating, “I would obviously be concerned because it’s symptomatic of the overall rise in Islamophobic sentiment in our society.”
Surveillance footage of the suspect shows the man wearing a black tank top, pants, and hat. He was last seen on E. 54th St. minutes after the attack.
Just last week a woman was arrested in Brooklyn after attacking two Muslim mothers, punching the women in the face and trying to rip away their hijabs.
The Huffington Post has recorded more than 260 anti-Muslim acts, including hate speech and violence, in the US this year.