Police in New York City say that a Muslim woman who claimed that three men aboard a subway train taunted her by yelling “Donald Trump” and calling her a terrorist made up the entire incident.
Baruch College student Yasmin Seweid, 18, was arrested Wednesday and charged with filing a false report and obstructing governmental administration. According to a Washington Post report, it is unclear whether or not Seweid has an attorney.
Police originally investigated Seweid’s claim as an anti-Muslim bias incident.
Seweid told police that the attack happened Dec. 1 as the train pulled into Grand Central Station. She claimed that one man grabbed her bag, breaking the strap, and another tried to take off her hijab. She reported that the men told her “You don’t belong here” and referred to her hijab as a “rag.”
As previously reported on The Root, the number of reported incidents of open and unabashed harassment and intimidation increased in the days following Donald Trump’s election win.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, in the 10 days following the election, people experienced harassment at work, at school, at home, on the street, on public transportation, in their cars, in grocery stores and other places of business, and in places of worship.
Of the almost 900 incidents examined by the SPLC, 49 were listed as anti-Muslim, and 69 of them occurred in New York.
Read more at the Washington Post.