Police in Ann Arbor, Michigan, said late on Sunday they were investigating an attack on a 19-year-old Jewish man as a "bias-motivated assault" after the man told police that attackers asked about his religion.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
Human rights advocates have warned about rising threats against American Muslims, Arabs and Jews since the eruption of Israel's war in Gaza that followed an attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Oct. 7.
KEY QUOTES
"The 19-year-old male victim reported he was walking when a group of unknown males behind him asked if he was Jewish. When the victim replied yes, the group of males proceeded to assault him," police said in a statement.
Police said the suspects fled the area on foot, and the victim suffered minor injuries and was not hospitalized.
"We take bias-motivated crimes very seriously and have assigned this incident to our hate crimes detective," the statement said.
CONTEXT
There have been many incidents of alleged assaults reported against American Muslims and Jews.
In August, a former Cornell University student was sentenced to prison for posting online threats against Jews. A Jordanian citizen in Florida was charged over threats against businesses over perceived support of Israel, and a man was charged with planning an attack in New York City at a Jewish center around the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks.
In October last year, an Illinois man was charged with hate crimes over the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy. In February the stabbing of a Muslim man in Texas met the definition of a hate crime, police said, and a Texas woman in June was accused of the attempted drowning of a 3-year-old Muslim girl that police said was motivated by bias. The August assault of a Muslim man in New York City was described by officials as a hate crime.
