TINLEY PARK, Ill. — A man is accusing firefighters of deliberately soaking him with water because of his faith and race.
NBC Chicago reported that Omar Ali, 30, alleges in a federal lawsuit that three firefighters who saw him wearing a turban as he walked home past their fire station sprayed him, leaving him “in fear, wetness, discomfort, humiliation and severe emotional distress.”
Ali, who is an African-American Muslim, accused the firefighters of a hate crime. He later confronted the firefighters and two of them “admitted, on videotape, that they sprayed the Plaintiff with their powerful water hose,” according to the report.
One firefighter told Ali he “didn’t mean to” do it and “offered to apologize,” and another said they were “just kidding,” the suit alleges.
“The spraying was neither an accident nor a joke, but a purposeful act that was directly related to the plaintiff’s race and/or ethnicity,” it states.
Tinley Park Fire Department did not return calls seeking comment late Monday, according to the report.