New York: Man throws hot coffee on Muslim woman's face, calls her terrorist

A homeless man in the US has thrown hot coffee in the face of a 21-year-old Muslim woman and called her a "terrorist".

Nathan Gray, 34, a store employee, told the woman he "hated Muslims" and was going to kill her, police said.

Gray walked into a Dunkin Donuts shop in Manhattan on Sunday and asked for a cup of coffee before sitting next to a group of Muslim women, an employee said. "I gave him coffee and he said something to me about terrorists, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. He walked away from me and sat next to a group of Muslim women," the store employee said.

He said  the man began talking to them and said "terrorists" while the group tried to ignore him. "He started talking to them and I could hear him saying, 'Terrorists!," he said.

"One woman called him 'stupid'. So he threw his hot coffee in her face. It was hot, hot coffee. She could have been burned! Then he swung his bag at her and it hit her in the face," the employee was quoted as saying by the New York Daily News.

The woman ran outside, and Gray put her in a headlock, police said.

Gray has been charged with assault as a hate crime, police said, adding that the victim has refused medical attention.