On September 30th, Rashid Dar, 27, was punched in the throat outside of a Washington DC train station whilst walking with his brother towards his local mosque to deliver Friday's sermon.
Buzzfeed reported, Rashid was wearing traditional attire towards his local mosque for Jummah prayer. He was wearing a Jubba and a fez which he had bought from Turkey.
As he walked past the DC’s Dupont Metro station he was approached by a black man suspected to be in his 20s or 30s wearing a gray baseball cap and dark clothing. The black man punched Rashid in his throat, the punch landed on his collar bone.
Rashid was left in shock after the punch, Dar's brother shouted at the attacker and the pair both circled each other for a few seconds, with their arms up, ready to fight, before onlookers broke up the fight. The assailant took his opportunity to run away during the commotion.
Hi @DCPoliceDept, please see below. cc: @imraansiddiqi @DawudWalid @ZahraBilloo pic.twitter.com/srhSteUAnY
— rashid dar (@rashiddar) September 30, 2016
Rashid tweeted the attack to the DC Metro Police Department and later filed an official report with the police.
Mr. Dar, after the incident calmed, he let his feelings be known on his own personal blog. Rashid wrote that he felt better after the punch, expressing, "My neck is pretty sore from where he hit me still, but because the punch landed right on my collarbone, I was able to take the hit without too much pain. I spent the past day and a half or so mostly just reassuring friends, family, and coworkers that all is well."
Rashid took the opportunity of being punched and used it to highlight the struggles Muslims face, "what happened to me was very minor compared to what so many Muslims in America and abroad are going through in this vitriolic political environment. I just happened to be a guy with a Twitter account, and have no intention to make what happened to me a sob story. It was my honor to take one for the team."