Sharmeka Moffit, 20, was found with burns encompassing more than half of her body and KKK scribbled onto her car. The Louisiana woman was allegedly set on fire by three men, who then reportedly wrote a racial slur and the initials of the hate group on her vehicle.
When law enforcement officers responded to an emergency call on Sunday evening, they discovered a critically burned Moffit. The FBI is investigating the burning as a possible hate crime, according to the New York Daily News . Sharmeka was transported to a local hospital for treatment of the third-degree burns which covered the majority of her body. She is slated to have surgery on Tuesday.
The possible racism victim was able to speak briefly to the police officers who came to her rescue. According to Moffit’s statement, three men poured a flammable liquid onto her body while she was at a park in Winnsboro, a Franklin Parish town. She was able to extinguish the flames burning into her flesh by using a spigot at Civitan Park.
The Ku Klux Klan and racial slur graffiti was smeared onto Sharmeka’s car with a paste-like substance, according to the Shreveport Times . She told officers that the men who set her on fire were wearing white hats or hoods and white hoodies. The public park does not have surveillance cameras, but law enforcement officers have reportedly sent evidence to the state crime lab for inspection.
Franklin Sheriff Kevin Cobb called the Sharmeka Moffit burning a “horrific event,” and he vowed to follow the facts in the case and seek justice for the victim. NAACP branch president, Otis Chisley, stated that more facts are needed before drawing conclusions about the attack but added that racism and KKK actions are still prevalent in the state.
