What to Know
- Yasmin Seweid, 18, was charged with filing a false report after she told police three men called her a terrorist and chanted "Donald Trump"
- She addressed the alleged harassment in a Facebook post and spoke with media outlets about the ordeal
- The Baruch College Student also went missing after the alleged harassment, but was found over the weekend.
UPDATE: Sister of Muslim Woman in Lying Case Blasts Police, Media
A New York college student who said she was harassed on a subway train earlier this month has been arrested, law enforcement sources told NBC 4 New York.
Yasmin Seweid, 18, was charged with filing a false report after she told authorities three men called her a terrorist and chanted "Donald Trump" at her aboard the 23rd Street 4/5/6 subway station on Dec. 1.
Now police sources have told NBC 4 New York that Seweid allegedly admitted to them she had been out drinking with friends, and made up the attack to distract her angry father.
She was arraigned at Manhattan Criminal Court and released Thursday morning. She appeared in court with a fresh buzz cut after her Muslim parents allegedly forced her to shave her head over the incident, the Daily News reports.
The Baruch College student originally said she told police she was approached by three men and told to "get out of this country," was called a terrorist aboard the train and told to "get the f****** hijab off your head!" She also alleged that one of the men grabbed her bag and broke the strap.
Seweid posted to Facebook about the attack on Dec. 2, saying that "it breaks my heart that so many individuals chose to be bystanders while watching me get harassed verbally and physically by these disgusting pigs."
Local
She called the incident "traumatizing" and spoke with multiple news organizations about it.
After Seweid made the allegations, she went missing from her home in New Hyde Park the following week. Her parents filed a missing persons report, but she turned up at her sister's house in Fishkill on Dec. 10, police sources said.
The student was also charged with obstructing government administration, meaning it is alleged police were kept from doing their work through investigating a potentially bogus crime.
Reacting to the news on Wednesday night, New Hyde Park resident Emily O'Hagan said people were upset to hear Seweid may have lied.
"Everyone's really feisty and angry about the Trump situation and everything he's done, and to make something up like that is just riling people up more for no reason," she said.
Attorney information for the woman wasn't immediately available.
