An advocacy group said today that a 16-year-old Muslim girl of Iraqi descent was attacked Tuesday afternoon by a group of teenage students on a school bus. They allegedly uttered an expletive and said Arabs are dirty, pulled off her Islamic head scarf, and dragged her to a nearby home.

The girl suffered injuries that required six stitches, said the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Ann Arbor Police Lt. Angela Abrams confirmed the incident.

Dawud Walid, head of Michigan CAIR, said that police are investigating the incident, which he said took place about 3:30 p.m. on a bus after school. Walid said the attackers were five African-American teenagers who were students.

“We’re extremely troubled,” Walid said today. “We’re asking state and federal authorities to investigate these assaults as hate crimes due to the racial slurs used and that her hijab was pulled off during the assaults.”

The victim’s brother also was attacked while he tried to come to her defense, Walid said. He said the victim was not available to comment and that her father speaks only Arabic.

Walid said he contacted the head of the Detroit FBI office about the incident since it involved possible hate crimes.

{Source: freepress.com}