Dupont Circle Memorial for Slain Muslim Teen is Set on Fire
By Daniel Gil/ Contributing Writer
The memorial vigil in Dupont Circle of a teenager found dead in Fairfax County, V.A. over the weekend was set on fire Wednesday, according to fire officials in Washington, D.C.
Officials responded to a fire at around 8:30 am local time to the charred remains of the memorial following the vigil which was held Tuesday night. D.C. police said they have arrested 24 year old Jonathan Solomon of South Carolina in connection with the fire.
A donation page was set up for her family, which has already received over $314,000 in donations and garnered 11,632 supporters.
The memorial was held in remembrance of Muslim teen, Nabra Hassanen, who was reportedly murdered Sunday morning while walking from a mosque in Sterling, VA with a group of friends. Along with Washington D.C, memorials were held in the major cities of New York, Boston, and San Francisco.
Nabra Hassanen was reportedly with a large group of her teenage friends Sunday morning when at around 3:00 am, an altercation occurred between the group of teens and a motorist. The teens had apparently gone to McDonald’s for a snack during Ramadan, according to police.
22 year old Darwin Martinez Torres, the suspect being charged with the teen’s murder, reportedly began an argument with one of the teens who was riding a bicycle. Torres then allegedly got out of his vehicle and chased the group down with a baseball bat before attacking Hassanen. She was then forcibly taken to a nearby area where her body was found in a pond, according to police who have ruled out the incident as a hate crime.
Officials are now investigating whether or not Hassanen had been sexually assaulted.
UPDATED: 3:17 P.M. ET
United States Park Police have stated that Jonathan Soloman, who was arrested in connection with the fire, was charged with “attending or kindling bonfires.” The statement made no mention of hate bias as a motivation for the fire and said “there is no evidence that this incident is related to the memorial held in the park the previous evening.”