Police: Alleged threat to Michigan Muslim student untrue

[cigsandcoffee]

Source: USN&WR

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Police in Michigan on Wednesday debunked a Muslim student's allegation that was widely cited as an example of a spike in anti-Muslim incidents in the wake of Donald Trump's presidential victory.

The woman reported in mid-November that a man approached her near the University of Michigan campus and threatened to set her on fire if she didn't remove her hijab. The Ann Arbor Police Department said in a statement that "following a thorough investigation, detectives have determined the incident in question did not occur."

Michigan's chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said at the time that the reported incident was "just the latest anti-Muslim incident" since Trump's Nov. 8 win.

On Wednesday, after police released their findings, CAIR's national spokesman, Ibrahim Hooper, said the apparently false report shouldn't be used to discredit what he called the "many, many incidents of anti-Muslim hate."

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-12-21/police-alleged-threat-to-michigan-muslim-student-untrue

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More real attacks, and more fake ones.

[Johnathan146]

1. Im glad to see they are pressing charges

False claims hurt everybody, and can ruin somebodys lives if they arrest somebody who didnt do anything.

[ck4829]

2. I read the description of the 'attacker', it almost sounds like a clown sighting

There is obviously a legitimate fear of what the future has to hold for the average Muslim, and while there have been examples of fraud, and there are examples of real attacks and incidents...

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-Victims-Asked-Are-You-Muslim-Before-Attack-Possible-Hate-Crime-407029875.html
http://alphanewsmn.com/new-details-ilhan-omar-cab-incident/
http://www.heraldcourier.com/news/man-accused-of-threatening-muslim-officer-faces-hate-charge/article_ce5b3df4-a29c-5ed6-810e-8bd99d57daa5.html

The thing is, I'm not sure if every Muslim (or any person for that matter) who feels threatened or has a story that has inconsistencies is necessarily going Ashley Todd/Bethany Storro/Francisco Nava on us.

As I said, there is legitimate fear that took root recently; that coupled with being alone, feeling isolated, hearing a noise, seeing something in the distance, seeing someone make an unusual gesture, etc. can cause the imagination to run wild and even confabulate things that never happened. Not unlike people who reported clowns recently. I personally think there is a parallel and I hope we separate the people who perpetrate fraud from those who are just scared and let their imagination get the best of them.

[HoneyBadger]

3. How exactly would one make that distinction