'Obama haters' attack black-Muslim youth in US

Kamara said a group of white men shouting Obama beat him (Courtesy of New York Daily News)

DUBAI (AlArabiya.net)

As celebrations of Barack Obama's historic victory broke out across the United States, a group of hooded white men brutally attacked a young black-Muslim immigrant while shouting "Obama," press reported Friday.

Liberian immigrant Ali Kamara, 17, said he was on his way home on the Nov. 4 Election Night when four white men jumped out of a car and began beating him with baseball bats near his Staten Island home, ABC News reported.

"I see the car coming. They looked at me and said, 'Obama!' They were not happy. They had hoodies on. They started hitting me with bats and my body started vibrating," the young high school student was quoted by several U.S. media outlets as saying.

"I was bleeding all over. I did not know them," the teen said. "I think it was a racist crime," Kamara said, adding he has had to have several stitches to close a severe wound in his head.

U.S. Islamic civil rights organization, CAIR, called for an FBI investigation into the assault.

"This incident should be of great concern to all Americans, not only because of the apparent bias motive, but because of its possible negative impact on equal participation in the political process," said Aliya Latif, civil rights director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR) New York office.

The New York Police Commissioner said an investigation was currently under way to determine if the attack was a hate crime.

"Our hate crimes task force is investigating and treating this as a possible bias crime," New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told local press.

Kamara and his family moved to Staten Island from Liberia in 2000.