OAKLAND — A Northern California teen set on fire on a bus says he doesn’t believe his accused teenage attacker should be charged for hate crimes as an adult.
Speaking publicly about the horrific ordeal, Sasha Fleischman is happy to be home for the Thanksgiving holiday more than three weeks after suffering second- and third-degree burns when the skirt the teen was wearing was set on fire on an AC Transit bus in Oakland.
The 18-year-old agender high school student who was released from the hospital on Wednesday says panic set in after feeling the flames before dropping to the floor and rolling around to extinguish them.
Fleischman intends to keep wearing skirts.
The alleged attacker, 16-year-old Richard Thomas, of Oakland, has been charged with mayhem and assault with hate crime enhancements.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.