Police seek teen suspects in brutal attack on Muslim man in Bronx
NEW YORK -- Police have released surveillance video of two teens who they say attacked a Muslim man in the Bronx Friday evening in an apparent hate crime, CBS New York reports.
The video, provided by the NYPD, shows the suspects fleeing down a street in the Parkchester neighborhood after allegedly attacking Mujibur Rahman, a 43-year-old Bangladeshi man, who had been walking his 9-year-old niece home from an after-school program and was wearing tradition garb when, he said, two masked men approached him.
"They were yelling at me, 'ISIS, ISIS,'" Rahman, who doesn't speak English, said through a translator.
They then allegedly beat him unconscious. He was hospitalized and released the next day. The girl with him was uninjured.
"My niece was shaking because of the fear and the scary situation," Rahman said.
Outraged members of the community gathered in the bitter cold at the scene of the attack Tuesday to denounce hate and stand along Rahman, who said that he is still having nightmares.
"I have pain all over my body," Rahman said. "I cannot walk, I cannot eat, I cannot sleep."
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS, visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text tips to 274637(CRIMES) then enter TIP577. There isa $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Police said both suspects were wearing ski masks and dark clothing. The NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating. Police have stepped up security outside of the school where the attack took place.
Mohammed Mujumder, a member of a local community board, said Rahman was not affiliated with politics or the Islamic State.
"He's not a politician," he said Sunday. "He's a simple man."