MINNEAPOLIS (KFGO) - The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is asking authorities to investigate an assault in Fargo as a possible hate crime.
Two men were arrested after beating the Somali-American Muslim victim early Sunday morning. CAIR says three Muslim men were in a parking lot while moving into a nearby building when they were approached by two other men.
CAIR says 32-year-old James Patrick Billiot and 28-year-old Justin William Rifanburg used racial slurs before assaulting the Muslim victim, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
“Given the reported bias-motivated slurs used during the alleged assault, we ask local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate this incident as a possible hate crime,” said CAIR-MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein.
