Hate crime hoax: A 20-year-old woman who claimed that she was slashed and called a 'f***ing terrorist' by an attacker in Lower Manhattan has owned up to carrying it out herself

The student, of Middle Eastern descent, was walking when she said that a man appeared outside Trinity Church, near Wall Street. She alleged that he was armed with a blade and wounded her on the left side of the face. The attacker was then said to have fled as locals heard a commotion. Emergency services were called after the woman contacted her father describing her injury and ordeal. Detectives were at the scene searching for clues to what was seen as a random violent assault. But they struggled in their hunt for witnesses and evidence before she admitted to carrying out the attack on herself.