Woman in Texas is Accused of Trying to Drown a Muslim Girl Who is Three Years Old. Police Want to Charge Her With a Hate Crime
Police in Texas say a woman tried to drown a 3-year-old Muslim girl in a swimming pool while making racist comments. She is now being charged with attempted murder. The police have asked that the case be treated as a hate crime by the judges.
The event took place at an apartment building in Euless, Texas, on May 19. The building was called to by police because of a report of a fight between two women. A report from the department said that witnesses told them that a woman who looked drunk had tried to drown a young child. Elizabeth Wolf, 42, was arrested by cops at the scene of the crime.
The mother of the child told police that Wolf had asked her where she was from and about her two kids, who were at the pool playing, the news release said. The mother then told cops that Wolf grabbed her 6-year-old son, but the boy was able to get away.
Police say that Wolf grabbed the mother’s 3-year-old daughter and forced her underwater while the mother tried to help her son.
“The mother of the two children said Wolf said things about her not being American and other racist things,” the police report said.
Wolf was charged with child abuse and attempted murder death. A police spokeswoman for Euless told PEOPLE that the charges have been accepted by the Tarrant County District Attorney. The spokesperson also said that the Euless Police Department suggested that the charges be considered a hate crime because of the racist language that was allegedly used.
It’s not clear right now if Wolf has hired a lawyer or made a plea. She got out of jail on bond and is no longer in police hands.
An announcement from the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Texas said that the mother, who was only named Mrs. H in the announcement, was wearing a scarf at the time of the event.
This mother said in a statement made public by CAIR, “We are American citizens who were born in Palestine, and I don’t know where to go to feel safe with my kids.” “There is a war in my country, and we are facing that hate here.”
“When I open the door to her apartment, my daughter runs away and hides because she is scared the woman will come back and put her head under the water again,” the statement said. “On top of that, my husband’s job is in danger because he has to miss work to go with me and our four kids to appointments and run errands.”
A GoFundMe page set up to help the family raised more than $16,000.
The operations manager for CAIR-Austin, Shaimaa Zayan, asked the police to look into the May 19 event as a hate crime.
“I was crushed to learn that the attacker got out of jail on bail the next day after being caught,” Zayan said. “We want an investigation into hate crimes, a higher bail bond, and an open conversation with officials to deal with the sad rise in Islamophobia, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian feelings.”