Police: UL Student Fabricated Story of Being Beaten, Robbed of Wallet and Hijab

A day after she reported it, police say a woman made up a story about being assaulted by a man wearing a Trump hat.

The woman called police Wednesday to say that two white men, one wearing a Trump hat, hit her several times, screamed racial slurs at her and stole her wallet and hijab. Lafayette police had been investigating the incident as an armed robbery and hate crime.

However, Thursday afternoon police issued a terse statement, saying that she had admitted she made up the story. The incident is no longer under investigation, police said, but no decisions have been made as to whether the woman will face charges for her false report.

The woman, described by police as an 18-year-old student at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, became the focus of stories around the world as other reports came in of assaults, graffiti and other incidents with racial overtones that are occurring across the nation.

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The ACLU of Louisiana released the following statement on the incident, condemning the reported attack before the woman admitted it was a lie.

“We call on all Louisianians to reject anti-Muslim bigotry. Muslim Americans and residents have the same rights that we all do: to practice our religion freely and openly, to live and work without fear, and to participate equally in public life,” the statement said.

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