Muslim man ambushed and savagely beaten in front of Queens mosque

Updated
Attacks on Muslims in U.S. Spike After Recent Terrorism?
Attacks on Muslims in U.S. Spike After Recent Terrorism?

A band of three men apparently jumped and viciously attacked a 59-year-old Muslim man outside a mosque in Jamaica, Queens, last week. A witness saw the group tail the victim, Mohamed Rasheed Khan, after Khan left the mosque and hopped on his bicycle. The men reportedly approached Khan around the corner and punched him over and over in the face and body. They broke the victim's ribs and bones in his face. Khan also suffered a concussion. He is bleeding internally and was unable to speak, says CBS2.

The witness saw the trio, some of whom were laughing, leave the scene. He went around the corner to see why, and found the victim — whom he knew from the mosque — lying in the street. The attackers did not steal anything from Khan, who was wearing traditional Islamic attire, reports WABC.

The NYPD is investigating the case but has not yet identified the suspects or classified this as a hate crime, though it's getting pressure from groups to do so. Last December, in the wake of the San Bernardino attacks, a man was charged in the beating of a Muslim store owner in Astoria. In January, two Bronx teens were arrested for a hate-crime assault after shouting "ISIS" and punching and kicking a man wearing a shalwar kameez, a traditional South Asian dress, while the victim was walking his 9-year-old niece home from school.

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