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Madison, WI Police Launch Hate Crime Probe into Black Teen Set on Fire by White Men

HeadlineJun 26, 2020

In Madison, Wisconsin, police have launched a hate crime investigation after a Black teenager reported being attacked early on Wednesday while she was driving. Eighteen-year-old Althea Bernstein says she was stopped at a red light when four white men approached her car. One screamed a racial epithet, and then lighter fluid was sprayed into her car. She told Madison365, “I turned my head to look, and somebody’s throwing lighter fluid on me. And then they threw a lighter at me, and my neck caught on fire.” Bernstein was able to drive away and was later treated at the hospital for burns to her face and neck. The attack occurred while a Black Lives Matter protest was winding down nearby.

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