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[RustyNails]

A woman was set on fire by a stranger on a Midtown street, according to police, and a published report says she was wearing traditional Muslim clothing at the time, prompting an investigation into whether it was a hate crime.

The 35-year-old woman was window-shopping on Fifth Avenue near East 54th Street Saturday night when she suddenly felt heat on her arm and noticed her blouse was on fire, police said.

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, not saying a word.

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. Police would not confirm the report to NBC 4 New York.

NBC News

This comes within days of two Muslim mothers strolling their kids punched and threatened by a crazy woman in Brooklyn.

 

[Dishwalla]

Ugh.

 

[BocoDragon]

Horrifying.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

...


When's that Punisher show starting up?

 

[Sami+]

Holy shit. What the fuck.

I hope she's ok. And I hope this deplorable, piece of shit, vile garbage fucker sees justice.

Edit - oh, phew. She's fine thank god

 

[Host Samurai]

Prob a trump supporter did this. Horrified that it's happened in NY

 

[Sölf]

So, this person, whoever it was, just decided to casually set someone ablaze with his lighter in broad daylight. What the fuck.

 

[sphagnum]

Fucking Islamophobic piece of shit

 

[Slayven]

Is something going on in NYC that isn't getting air time?

 

[NYR]

That's a pretty high profile street, hopefully a camera caught the guy, there is one literally right in front of the store.

 

[FStop7]

What the fuck.

At least they caught this guy.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-shooting-idUSKCN10O0X4

 

[Permanently A]

This is scary as fuck damn, seems like every day in NY is another muslim hate crime.

 

[whitehawk]

Thank goodness it was just an idiot with a lighter. I was expecting gas to be involved.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Atleast she's okay, but seriously, what kind of fucking psychopathic piece of shit does this?

 

[metalslimer]

So, this person, whoever it was, just decided to casually set someone ablaze with his lighter in broad daylight. What the fuck.

We've gotten to that point...

 

[Boney]

How much of the sleeve caught on fire. Scary shit

 

[NYR]

Is something going on in NYC that isn't getting air time?

Nope. 8 million people. Always going to have assholes in a group that large.

 

[Dishwalla]

Is something going on in NYC that isn't getting air time?

It's New York close to the 9/11 anniversary? I don't know, but that's the only thing I can think of.

 

[BigAl1992]

This is just unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable.

 

[SirMossyBloke]

Set on fire? Jesus. It's like the dark ages.

 

[Vilix]

An investigation into wether this was a hate crime?

 

[rjinaz]

I blame Trump for enabling these idiots.

 

[Rumblebones]

Of course cowardly shits like this target women.

I hope they successfully try this motherfucker for attempted murder and throw the book at them.

 

[Sami+]

It's New York close to the 9/11 anniversary? I don't know, but that's the only thing I can think of.

I feel like Muslim hate crimes and general Islamophobia appears to flare up every September at this point but I could be imagining it.

 

[RPGCrazied]

I blame Trump for enabling these idiots.

Yep, even when he loses, he still has done damage and brought out the worst of people.

 

[Speevy]

What the fuck.

At least they caught this guy.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-shooting-idUSKCN10O0X4

I don't...know if this is the same person.

This says a guy shot someone.

 

[Will M]

An investigation into wether this was a hate crime?

Yes, because deciding to take your Bic lighter to someone's clothes is too common in today's society. Could've been targeting anyone!

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

An investigation into wether this was a hate crime?

whats wrong with that?

 

[grumble]

This is scary as fuck damn, seems like every day in NY is another muslim hate crime.

May well be not a hate crime, thought definitely could be. Also be aware of reporting bias.

 

[PSqueak]

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.

What a world we live where the best case scenario is "it was some random pyromaniac setting strangers on fire with no racial/religious bias".

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

that area is surprisingly light on foot traffic at night but there are lots and lots of cameras everywhere.

 

[Sparkedglory]

Find this asshole and beat the shit out of him

 

[Jonm1010]

An investigation into wether this was a hate crime?

I mean yeah, I would hope that would happen. Don't you?

 

[Jpop]

May well be not a hate crime, thought definitely could be. Also be aware of reporting bias.

It's a hate crime.

There is no maybe.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

WHAT

 

[triplestation]

NYC is not a great place to be a muslim right now, or even muslim looking

stay safe everyone

 

[Cake Boss]

Is American the next nazi Germany or some shit.

 

[Arkeband]

May well be not a hate crime, thought definitely could be. Also be aware of reporting bias.

Oh yeah, man, totally.

This guy is just an indiscriminate people-arsonist!

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

It's a hate crime.

There is no maybe.

dont ask questions, grab your pitchfork, get your stick of fire!!!!

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Fucking Midtown, I work right near there. Fucking disgusting.

 

[Dimmle]

Some would call this deplorable behavior.

 

[sturgboski]

Fuck Trump and his racist supporters. While racism has always been there, his rhetoric has brought it to the surface and made it seem acceltable. Deplorable is not the right word. This man needs to not be in the White House and his racist supporters need to crawl into the hole they came from and just die already. Every generation is "well maybe in a couple of generations" and yet I think this has all been reset.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

Fucking Midtown, I work right near there. Fucking disgusting.

yeah I work at 49th street across from Rockefeller and my neighborhood in Brooklyn has a large Muslim population, maybe I ought to be more careful from now on.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Stay safe, MuslimGaf.

dont ask questions, grab your pitchfork, get your stick of fire!!!!

🤔

 

[Jpop]

dont ask questions, grab your pitchfork, get your stick of fire!!!!

Sorry, no.

There is enough history of racial discrimination in the U.S. on Middle Eastern people that you can easily differentiate a hate crime vs regular crime.

Just the same as you can differentiate cops who act with racial bias against black people and other minorities.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

The mainstreaming of hate speech folks.

 

[McLovin]

Hard to believe these kind of people actually exist.

 

[Jeels]

Oh man, this could have been way more trafic. Glad to hear she was okay. So sad that this could happen to someone doing something as harmless as window shopping.

 

[Darryl M R]

NYC is not a great place to be a muslim right now, or even muslim looking

stay safe everyone

I would think NYC would be one of the most liberal place in the nation.

WTF

 

[The Artisan]

What the fuck