A Muslim teenager gave out hugs in Nottingham city centre to try to end stereotypes about his religion.
Yusf Pirot, 16, stood in St Peter’s Gate wearing a blindfold and a poster pinned to his back saying ‘I am a Muslim, not a terrorist, I trust you, do you trust me? Give me a hug’.
Dozens of people took up the offer and gave him words of support.
Yusf, From Arnold, said: “I’ve wanted to do this for a long long time because I grew up in a society of being called a terrorist every day.
“After the attack in Paris, I saw on social media everyone was saying ‘Muslims did it, Muslims are terrorists’ and people were actually coming up to my face saying ‘you’re a terrorist, you did that to Paris’.
“It was disgusting how people called me a terrorist just because of what I believe and where I’m from and I thought I would send a message to the world and tell them that I’m not a terrorist and that not at all Muslims are terrorists.
Video: Yusf Pirot’s Facebook video of him giving out hugs in Nottingham city centre
“Just because of my race and religion, it doesn’t make me a terrorist and this was a way to get my message across in a way that people would appreciate.”
I grew up being called a terrorist every day
Yusf said he also received abuse from a handful of people while stood in the city centre.
He added: “I was going to give up about half an hour in but then a woman came up to me and said ‘you’re doing a great job, keep it up’ and I thought I can’t stop now because there are people appreciating this and helping me.
“It felt really good because I knew that they trusted me and they got the message from me and it was just a way of sharing feelings.”
Video: Yusf talks to Notts TV about why he decided to offer the hugs
He also had a message for people that interacted with his Facebook video.
“I really appreciated everyone who shared my video and I wish I could just say thank you to every single one of them.”
