Texas woman who tried to drown 3 yo Palestinian American girl indicted
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As politicians use more and more inflammatory rhetoric against Palestinians, Islamophobia and racially motivated hate crimes are becoming more commonplace, particularly in the US.
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Elizabeth Wofl, accused of the attempted drowning of a 3-year-old Palestinian-American Muslim girl, poses for an undated police booking photo in Euless, Texas, US. (Euless Police Department)
A grand jury in Texas has finally indicted a woman for attempting to drown a 3-year-old Palestinian American Muslim girl in an incident from May, which local police believe was driven by racial hatred.
Elizabeth Wolf, 42, has been charged by a Tarrant County grand jury, with the indictment filed last month including a hate crime enhancement, according to court documents obtained on Tuesday. This enhancement could lead to a harsher sentence if Wolf is convicted.
Wolf faces charges of attempted capital murder of a child under ten and intentionally causing bodily harm to a child.
As per the police report, at an apartment complex swimming pool, Wolf fought with the mother of the 3-year-old girl, who was also at the pool with her 6-year-old son, and inquired where they were from before trying to drown the 3-year-old and grab the 6-year-old.
Emergency personnel rushed to the scene, and the woman was able to rescue her daughter from the water.
Since the war on Gaza began, Islamophobia and racially motivated hate crimes are becoming more commonplace, particularly in the US where some politicians have used inflammatory rhetoric against Palestinians.
In October of last year, an 8-year-old Palestinian American was killed in Illinois after being stabbed, and in February, a Palestinian American man was stabbed in Texas.
In November, three Palestinian Americans were shot in Vermont in what police believed was a hate-motivated crime since two of them were wearing the traditional Palestinian koufiyyeh.
