Woman wants men who set her on fire to ‘improve themselves’
MADISON, WIS.—A biracial Wisconsin woman who says a group of white men set her on fire while she was driving wants her attackers to know they hurt her but hopes they will improve themselves.
Althea Bernstein told ABC’s “Good Morning America” for a Friday segment that she hasn’t slept and doesn’t have an appetite. But she called the attack in the state’s capital city of Madison a “learning opportunity” for her attackers.
“I’m very, very hopeful that these men sort of see all the response and that they know that they hurt me and this something that’s going to affect me for a while,” she said. “And I really hope that they choose to improve themselves.”
According to a police report, Bernstein, an18-year-old studying to become an paramedic, was driving in downtown Madison early Wednesday morning. A crowd of 200 to 300 protesters had pulled down two statues outside the state capitol building and attacked state Sen. Tim Carpenter on the Capitol lawn. Someone also threw a fire bomb into a city-county building, starting a fire.
Bernstein told the news website Madison365.com that she didn’t participate in the protests and was driving to her brother’s home. She said she had her window down while stopped at a red light and heard someone shout a racial slur at her.
She said four white men appeared — two dressed in black and two in Hawaiian shirts — and sprayed her with lighter fluid. One of them allegedly tossed a flaming lighter at her,