Victim wants attackers to ‘learn’ from experience
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 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 is 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, an 18-year-old studying to become an paramedic, was attacked while driving in downtown Madison on Wednesday morning, local time. A crowd of 200 to 300 protesters had pulled down two statues outside the state Capitol building and attacked state Senator Tim Carpenter on the Capitol lawn. Someone also threw a fire bomb into a citycounty building, starting a fire.
Bernstein said 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 allegedly tossed a flaming lighter at her, setting her neck and face on fire. She said she ‘‘blasted’’ through the red light, patted the fire out and continued on to her brother’s. She later visited an emergency room, where she said healthcare workers had to scrub her skin off. She will eventually need plastic surgery.
‘‘I never really knew someone could hate you just by looking at you,’’ Bernstein said. ‘‘They didn’t know me. I didn’t know them. I was just driving my car and minding my own business.’’
She contacted police later that morning.
The attack is being investigated as a hate crime with assistance from the FBI, Madison Police spokesman Joel DeSpain said. A detective is reviewing surveillance video from the area to see if any cameras captured the attack.
Madison, like other cities across the United States and around the world, has seen protests since George Floyd died on May 25 after a police officer pressed his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes. The toppling of controversial statues has emerged as a side-effect of the protests.
AP