Police have released security footage of two suspects believed to be behind the attack on a 43-year-old Bangladeshi man in the Bronx. Mujibur Rahman was walking his 9-year-old niece home from school at Watson Avenue and Pugsley Avenue last Friday evening when two teenagers pounced on him, punching him in the head and allegedly shouting "ISIS! ISIS!"
Rahman had been wearing traditional South Asian Islamic dress at the time, and told reporters "I never heard of ISIS before this attack."
Police are looking for two black teenage males who were last seen wearing ski masks and dark-colored clothing as they attacked Rahman. One of the suspects is believed to be 5'11" tall. Both suspects can be seen running in grainy black and white security footage below.
Suspects in anti-Muslim attack in the Bronxby Gothamist
Rahman was forced to the ground and kicked during the attack, which left him with a black eye and bruises on his face. EMS responders rushed him to Jacobi Hospital, where he was treated and later released.
An NYPD Hate Crime Task Force investigation is ongoing, but so far no arrests have been made. "I was dressed like a Muslim," Rahman told the Post. "That's why I was attacked. This has never happened before. I hope and wish this doesn't happen in the future to anyone else."
