A Muslim teenager who claimed that three drunk men attacked her and called her a “terrorist” admitted that she fabricated the story. She was arrested on Wednesday for lying to police officers.
Yasmin Seweid, 18, a Baruch college student, told police that she boarded a uptown No. 6 train at East 23rd St. on Dec. 1 and was called a “terrorist” by three drunk white men. She claimed that the three men yelled “Trump, Trump” at her and telling her to “go back to your country.”
Seweid also claimed that one of the men followed her and attempted to pull off her hijab before she ran away. She admitted the entire account was made up.
She is now charged with obstructing governmental administration and filing a false report, a high ranking police official told the New York Post. She could face up to one year in jail for each of the charges.
Investigators tried to verify the story by checking surveillance footage. They also were unable to find witnesses at the scene of the incident. They determined that the story was a fabrication.
She was then called in by investigators to work on the sketch of her attackers but after finding inconsistencies, she recanted, saying that she made up the story because she was having family issues with her father. One source said that the issues came out because her family felt she was becoming “westernized” and criticized her for dating a Catholic.
Seweid was released without bail early Thursday after her arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.
“You try to raise your children as best you can,” her father, Sayeed Seweid, told DNA Info. “Maybe she was afraid that night. She was running late.”
Seweid was the subject of a manhunt and had gone missing for several days. Her father filed a missing persons report, but she was later found by police at a friend’s house.
[revad2]
