Iranian Nail Salon Owner Brutalized, Robbed in New York Anti-Muslim Attack
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An Iranian-American nail salon owner was brutalized by robbers who called her a "terrorist" and scrawled anti-Muslim messages on a mirror in her shop, the victim and police said.
"I'm in shock," victim Zoreh Assemi told WNBC-TV after the attack Saturday morning, a web of cuts and bruises visible on her face, arms and hands. She said she felt "terrorized ... not by American people, but by a very small group and prejudice. And it hurts."
Nassau County police, who were treating the attack as a bias crime, had made no arrests early Sunday and were appealing to the public for tips.
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Two men sneaked up on Assemi, 52, as she was getting ready to open the Givan Nail and Skin Center at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, police said.
The attackers pushed her into the store and kicked her, pounded her hand with a hammer and slashed her with what may have been a box cutter, police said.
"One of them was just beating me up with a stick, and the other one was cutting," Assemi, who said she is a naturalized American citizen, told WNBC. She said the attackers cursed her, called her a "terrorist" and told her to "go back to your country."
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After damaging some items in the salon and defacing the mirror, the duo ran off with an unknown amount of cash, according to police.
Assemi was treated at a local hospital and released later Saturday, police said.
Assemi told WNBC she left Iran and was granted asylum during the 1980s. Iran was engaged in a long and destructive war with neighboring Iraq during most of the decade.
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Assemi, who has owned the salon for 20 years, said she became a citizen during the last six years.