Uproar over an alleged attack on a Muslim student from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette after Donald Trump’s win on Election Day turned out to be all for nothing — her story was a complete fabrication.
A female student created waves of anger early Wednesday when she reported a robbery by two white men — one in a white “Trump” hat — who beat her, ripped her hijab, stole her wallet and said “nasty stuff.” It took less than 24 hours for her story to collapse when questioned by Lafayette Police.
“During the course of the investigation, the female complainant admitted that she fabricated the story about her physical attack as well as the removal of her hijab and wallet by two white males,” the department said in a news release, The Adviser, a USA Today affiliated newspaper, reported Thursday.
Kareem Attia, president of the Muslim Student Association at UL-Lafayette, told The Washington Post earlier in the week that the alleged attack was “hitting home” for Muslim students.
“No one wants this to happen, and it’s hitting home for us,” Mr. Attia said Thursday. “The idea that a person in your community could be targeted just for wearing a headscarf, which is part of our religion, it’s disgusting. It’s very un-American.”
Charlie Bier, a spokesman for the university, told The Associated Press Thursday night that he could not address possible disciplinary measures for the student due to federal privacy laws.
“We don’t take this lightly, and it’s made national headlines now,” Lafayette Police spokesman Officer Karl Ratcliff told the Acadiana Advocate. “There will be consequences.”
The American Civil Liberties Union responded to the revelations with a statement condemning “threats, harassment and violence against Muslim men and women, as well as people of color, immigrants and LGBT people [that] have been occurring across the nation in recent days,” Mediaite reported Thursday.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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