NEW YORK — Police released video Tuesday of a suspect in the attack. The video shows a man walking down a street, but it’s hard to make out his face.
In the suspected hate attack, a stranger set a Scottish Muslim tourist on fire while she was window shopping on New York’s Fifth Avenue.
The incident took place on Saturday night. The woman, 35, felt heat around her arm then saw that her sleeve was on fire, according to police.
She noticed a man standing next to her with a lighter in his hand, according to police. He ran away eastbound on East 54th Street, without saying anything.
The victim was able to quickly put out the flames and wasn’t hurt, according to The Daily News.
The Daily News reports the woman was wearing traditional Muslim garb and that the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force was looking into whether the act was motivated by bias.
“She saw (the suspect) pull a lighter away and walk away,” a source who witnessed the attack told the Daily News. “He doesn’t say anything.”
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, urged a full investigation.
“I would obviously be concerned because it’s symptomatic of the overall rise in Islamophobic sentiment in our society,” he said.CAIR the Council on American-Islamic Relations called upon the mayor to add resources to the city’s hate crime investigation unit.
“We are clearly seeing a spike in attacks on individual Muslims and Islamic institutions in New York and around the country, which should be of concern to all Americans,” said CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher.
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