SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
FBI Investigating Hate Crime After Woman Set on Fire in Louisiana
"KKK" and racial slur smeared on her car
Oct 23, 2012
UPDATE: Police announced Tuesday evening that they believe the Louisiana woman who reported being set on fire Sunday night in an alleged racial attack instead set herself on fire and wrote KKK and a racial slur herself.
* * *
A 20-year-old African-American woman told police she was doused in flammable liquid and set on fire Sunday night by three men who wrote the initials KKK and a racial slur on the hood of her car.
Sharmeka Moffitt, 20, is in critical condition at LSU Medical Center in Shreveport, the Huffington Post reports today.
"Both of her arms, and they are third degree burns, down her chest and legs--one," Moffitt's mother said during a press conference. "Basically her arms are real bad."
Police discovered the letters KKK and a racial slur smeared in a "paste-like substance" on the hood of Mofitt's car, parked at a town park in Winnsboro, La.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident as a hate crime, Louisiana State Police spokesperson Lt. Julie Lewis said. No arrests had been made as of late Monday, the Associated Press reported.
Moffitt was apparently walking on a paved trail in the park at about 9 p.m. Sunday when the attack occurred, the News Star reported.
According to the Associated Press:
On the emergency call, Moffitt described her attackers as three men wearing white hoods or hats, Lewis said. She later told a Winnsboro Police officer who responded to the call that the men were wearing white hoodies. She was unable to say what race her attackers were. The officer found no suspects or vehicles at Civitan Park in Winnsboro, where the attack allegedly happened, and the park has no surveillance cameras, Lewis said. She said the state crime lab was analyzing several pieces of evidence.
Franklin Parish Sheriff Kevin Cobb told the News Star that he had never experienced such a crime, and added, "It's most definitely a horrific event that has created an uneasy feeling in the community."
Otis Chisley, president of the local branch of the NAACP, said that while he would wait for more facts before drawing conclusions.
But he acknowledged that racism and KKK activity is "prevalent throughout Louisiana. It's hidden but it exists."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
UPDATE: Police announced Tuesday evening that they believe the Louisiana woman who reported being set on fire Sunday night in an alleged racial attack instead set herself on fire and wrote KKK and a racial slur herself.
* * *
A 20-year-old African-American woman told police she was doused in flammable liquid and set on fire Sunday night by three men who wrote the initials KKK and a racial slur on the hood of her car.
Sharmeka Moffitt, 20, is in critical condition at LSU Medical Center in Shreveport, the Huffington Post reports today.
"Both of her arms, and they are third degree burns, down her chest and legs--one," Moffitt's mother said during a press conference. "Basically her arms are real bad."
Police discovered the letters KKK and a racial slur smeared in a "paste-like substance" on the hood of Mofitt's car, parked at a town park in Winnsboro, La.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident as a hate crime, Louisiana State Police spokesperson Lt. Julie Lewis said. No arrests had been made as of late Monday, the Associated Press reported.
Moffitt was apparently walking on a paved trail in the park at about 9 p.m. Sunday when the attack occurred, the News Star reported.
According to the Associated Press:
On the emergency call, Moffitt described her attackers as three men wearing white hoods or hats, Lewis said. She later told a Winnsboro Police officer who responded to the call that the men were wearing white hoodies. She was unable to say what race her attackers were. The officer found no suspects or vehicles at Civitan Park in Winnsboro, where the attack allegedly happened, and the park has no surveillance cameras, Lewis said. She said the state crime lab was analyzing several pieces of evidence.
Franklin Parish Sheriff Kevin Cobb told the News Star that he had never experienced such a crime, and added, "It's most definitely a horrific event that has created an uneasy feeling in the community."
Otis Chisley, president of the local branch of the NAACP, said that while he would wait for more facts before drawing conclusions.
But he acknowledged that racism and KKK activity is "prevalent throughout Louisiana. It's hidden but it exists."
UPDATE: Police announced Tuesday evening that they believe the Louisiana woman who reported being set on fire Sunday night in an alleged racial attack instead set herself on fire and wrote KKK and a racial slur herself.
* * *
A 20-year-old African-American woman told police she was doused in flammable liquid and set on fire Sunday night by three men who wrote the initials KKK and a racial slur on the hood of her car.
Sharmeka Moffitt, 20, is in critical condition at LSU Medical Center in Shreveport, the Huffington Post reports today.
"Both of her arms, and they are third degree burns, down her chest and legs--one," Moffitt's mother said during a press conference. "Basically her arms are real bad."
Police discovered the letters KKK and a racial slur smeared in a "paste-like substance" on the hood of Mofitt's car, parked at a town park in Winnsboro, La.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident as a hate crime, Louisiana State Police spokesperson Lt. Julie Lewis said. No arrests had been made as of late Monday, the Associated Press reported.
Moffitt was apparently walking on a paved trail in the park at about 9 p.m. Sunday when the attack occurred, the News Star reported.
According to the Associated Press:
On the emergency call, Moffitt described her attackers as three men wearing white hoods or hats, Lewis said. She later told a Winnsboro Police officer who responded to the call that the men were wearing white hoodies. She was unable to say what race her attackers were. The officer found no suspects or vehicles at Civitan Park in Winnsboro, where the attack allegedly happened, and the park has no surveillance cameras, Lewis said. She said the state crime lab was analyzing several pieces of evidence.
Franklin Parish Sheriff Kevin Cobb told the News Star that he had never experienced such a crime, and added, "It's most definitely a horrific event that has created an uneasy feeling in the community."
Otis Chisley, president of the local branch of the NAACP, said that while he would wait for more facts before drawing conclusions.
But he acknowledged that racism and KKK activity is "prevalent throughout Louisiana. It's hidden but it exists."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.