PORTLAND (AP) – Police say they hope photographs and videos taken at last Saturday’s cross-country race in Cumberland will help identify a man who allegedly threw what appeared to be sand and dirt in the eyes of a top runner from Lewiston.

Mohamed Noor, who moved to Maine from Somalia in the last year, told police that the spectator who attacked him was a middle-aged white man who wore glasses and a green shirt or coat.

Cumberland police say that unless they can find the man or find a way to document the incident, there’s no way to determine if a crime took place.

The head of a Somali advocacy group has quoted Noor as saying he believes he was attacked because of his race. The group has asked the FBI to investigate the incident as a civil rights matter.