Muslim Student in Hijab Lied About Threat to Set Her on Fire: Police

A Muslim University of Michigan student lied when she told police in the days following the election of President-elect Donald Trump that a man had threatened to set her on fire if she didn’t remove her hijab, the Ann Arbor Police Department said in a statement Wednesday. The FBI and university police had been investigating the report as a hate crime.

“Investigators conducted witness interviews and reviewed multiple surveillance videos of the area in question,” the department said. “During the course of the investigation, numerous inconsistencies in the statements provided by the alleged victim were identified. Following a thorough investigation, detectives have determined the incident in question did not occur.”

The woman who made the claim, who has not been identified, could face criminal charges, investigators said. The case has been forwarded to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office for Review.

In her Nov. 11 police report, the woman claimed that she had complied with the man’s request that she remove her hijab, a traditional headscarf worn by Muslim women, and he let her go without harming her. She went so far as to describe the alleged assailant as a white male between the ages of 20-30, with an average height and athletic build, bad body odor, an unkempt appearance and slurred speech due to intoxication.

See Also

• Threat to Set Fire to Hijab-Wearing Muslim Student Probed as Hate Crime
• Among American Muslims, Donald Trump’s Win Has Psychological Effect

Reports of the incident set U-M students on edge and became part of a national narrative that Trump’s supporters had been emboldened by his election and were engaging in Islamophobia. Days of unrest, protests and vigils followed at U-M and across the country.

The incident was one of several reports around the country of threats, intimidation and racially charged violence in the days following Trump’s historic election. Muslim leaders in southeast Michigan across the United States worried that Trump’s fiery rhetoric had normalized Islamophobia.

“Since the election, we’ve seen a big uptick in incidents of vandalism, threats, intimidation spurred by the rhetoric surrounding Mr. Trump’s election,” Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, told USA Today. “The white supremacists out there are celebrating his victory and many are feeling their oats.”

In his first extensive interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” the Sunday after his election, Trump said he was “saddened” to hear of reports of violence among some of his supporters and directly addressed them.

“I would say don’t do it, that’s terrible, 'cause I’m gonna bring this country together,” he responded when reporter Lesley Stahl shared reports of harassment directed at Latinos and Muslims. “I am so saddened to hear that. And I say, ‘Stop it.’ If it — if it helps. I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: Stop it.”

Photo via Shuttestock