Muslim man attacked in his Astoria store

Twitter/Chelsea_J_Katz

It’s happening. While presidential candidate Donald Trump continues to spew hate towards the Muslim community in an already tense period in American history, physical attacks on innocent Muslims are occurring. Most recently, a Muslim man was attacked in his own Astoria store.

The man, 53-year-old Sarker Haque, suffered a bloody beating on Saturday afternoon at Fatima Food Mart on 21st Avenue. He was beaten near an ice-cream cooler by a man who police have identified as Florida native Piro Kolvani, 55. Haque told Pix 11 during the incident, he asked the man why he was attacking him, to which Kolvani answered “I kill Muslims.”

Two people were able to help Haque before Kolvani could do more harm. For instance, a Latino man that Haque knows as a customer, grabbed hold of Kolvani and got him off of Haque after hearing Haque’s screams. The man asked Haque not to publicly identify him. Another good Samaritan called 911.

Haque was left with a black eye and an inflamed arm that he had previously dislocated last year. Police are investigating whether the attack was a hate crime.