Police in Texas are offering a $5,000 (£3,500) reward for help to catch a man who stabbed a Muslim woman in Houston during an Islamophobic attack.
According to the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the 25-year-old victim, who is white and wears the hijab, says she was driving home on Thursday morning from her job as a nurse when her car was almost taken off road by a red SUV in northwest Harris County.
When the victim pulled over and got out of her car to check whether it was damaged, the perpetrator made a U-turn and pulled up behind her vehicle.
The attacker reportedly got out of his SUV and began yelling Islamophobic and racist profanities like, “Oh my God, it’s a r*ghead,” “It’s an f*cking r*ghead,” “sand n*gger” and other obscenities.
The victim believes she was attacked because she was wearing the hijab.
Sobia Siddiqui of CAIR-Houston said: “She said a driver nearly sideswiped her…She thought it was road rage.”
The victim tried to get back in her car, but the passenger side door was locked.
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
At that point the perpetrator pulled out a knife and pointed it at the victim’s face. He hit her with the knife handle on her arms and shoulder.
A man who was riding in the alleged attacker’s SUV got out and tried to calm him down, but not before the woman was stabbed in the arm.
The passenger reportedly convinced the attacker to get back in his SUV and they left the scene.
The victim returned to the hospital where she works to get her injury treated.
The perpetrator and the passenger who was with him are described as white males, 20 to 35 years of age.
The alleged attacker had tattoos on his arms and neck.
The Executive Director of CAIR-Houston, Mustafa Carroll, said: “We hope that anyone who has information about this potentially deadly and apparently bias-motivated attack will immediately contact law enforcement authorities.”
Officials with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office are currently investigating the case.
