Louisiana police said Wednesday that a woman who claimed she was set on fire by the Ku Klux Klan fabricated the account.
Sharmeka Moffitt, a 20-year-old African-American woman, was reported on Tuesday to be in critical condition after sustaining burns on more than half her body after a racially motivated attack.
But Franklin Parish Sheriff Kevin Cobb told The News Star that Moffitt actually set fire to herself. “This was a disturbing case for all involved. All indications show this was a self-inflicted situation,” Cobb said.
Police believe that Moffitt wrote “KKK” and a racial slur on the hood of her car with toothpaste and then burned herself. “This is a tragic situation,” Thomas told the paper.
Resident Ta'Nikqua Smith and others said the fake attack left them feeling angry. “She had all these people believing that it was racial issues and everybody was hating everybody because of this,” Smith told the local KTBS station.
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