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After Obama Win, Black Muslim Teen Beaten With Bat on Staten Island
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 6, 2008
Modified Nov 6, 2008
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By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 6, 2008
Modified Nov 6, 2008
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17-year-old Ali Kamara, a black Muslim, was walking home on Staten Island Tuesday night after it was announced that Barack Obama was elected president when he was brutally assaulted by four white men. Kamara tells the Daily News: "I see the car coming. They looked at me and said, 'Obama!' They were not happy. They had hoodies on. They started hitting me with bats and my body started vibrating." Luckily, Kamara was able to break away and hide until the thugs left; his mother, who moved with Ali to Staten Island from Liberia in 2000, showed the News a bloody towel she used to staunch his wounds. An NYPD spokesman says the department's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident as a bias crime. And Kamara says he heard his assailants scream the word "Obama!" but not any other racial or religious slurs, so it could be the bullies just mistook Kamara for the new President-Elect.
Tagged
attack
beaten
beating
bias
black
crime
election
muslim
obama
racist
staten island
teen
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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