VIDEO: Clifton Man Charged with Assaulting Muslim Cab Driver; Compared Him to Boston Bombers, Cabbie Says

A Muslim Army veteran who works as a cabdriver in Northern Virginia was reportedly assaulted by a Clifton man Friday, who compared the driver to the Boston Marathon bombers, according to a story in Wednesday's Washington Post.

The cabbie, Mohamed A. Salim of Great Falls, says Ed Dahlberg of Clifton, who police have charged with misdemeanor assault, became belligerent after Salim picked him up Friday at about 2 a.m. from the Country Club of Fairfax. Salim said in the Post story that Dahlberg attempted to bring an open beer into the cab.

Dahlberg is president of Emerald Aviation, Inc., which he founded in 1995. The Emerald website is currently down, undergoing "scheduled maintenance."

The cab driver took video of some of their exchange in the cab and provided the video to the Washington Post. The video includes Dahlberg asking if the cab driver is a Muslim, saying:

“If you’re a [expletive] Muslim flying jets into the World Trade Center, then [expletive] you, I will slice your [expletive] throat right now.”

Salim told the newspaper Dahlberg then hit him, after the recording stopped, fracturing his jaw. Dahlberg, through an attorney, denied hitting Salim.

“Because I’m a Muslim, he treated me like a piece of trash,” Salim told the Post. “I love this country. I didn’t deserve this.”

Fairfax County prosecutors are reviewing the video to decide whether to prosecute the case as a hate crime, the Post reported. The charge would be a felony.