Calls for hate crime probe after Detroit attack on Yemeni child
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The attempt on the life of a 7-year-old Yemeni-American girl has prompted calls for it to be investigated as a hate crime.
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7-year-old Saida Mashrah, who was the victim of a hate crime, recovers from her injuries after a man slashed her throat with a knife at a Detroit park in broad daylight on October 8, 2024. (Social media)
Authorities in Detroit are being urged to investigate a knife attack on a young Arab Muslim girl as a potential hate crime, amid a sharp increase in Islamophobic attacks over the past year.
The incident took place on Tuesday at Detroit's Ryan Park, where 73-year-old Gary Lansky approached 7-year-old Saida Mashrah and lifted her head and slit her throat. Saida managed to escape by kicking her attacker and rushing home to her mother.
Lansky was taken into custody the same day and has been charged with assault with intent to murder and felonious assault.
While police and Lansky's wife have suggested that he may suffer from mental illness, leading authorities to initially dismiss the possibility of a hate crime, many are calling for a thorough investigation.
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office has stated that it does not have sufficient evidence to pursue hate crime charges, with spokesperson Maria Miller saying on Friday, "There is no evidence of a hate crime in this case," without providing further explanation.
Rise in Islamophobic incidents
The potential of the attack being motivated by discriminatory views toward the girl's Muslim and Yemeni heritage has been strongly emphasized by her mother, Amirah Sharhan.
"Why did he target her? Why did he come out of nowhere and do this?" Sharhan asked on Friday. "I don't want my daughter's case to be pushed to the side, at all."
The attack has sparked calls for further investigation from community leaders in Detroit and across Michigan.
Detroit Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib called for a hate crime investigation, writing in a statement on X that the attack on the young girl "must be investigated as a hate crime" and warned that the "constant dehumanization of Arab and Muslim people is resulting in hate crimes across our country."
The assault on Saida Mashrah comes amid a troubling rise in Islamophobic and anti-Arab incidents in the US, fueled by the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the demonstrations that followed suit in condemnation.
Islamophobia on the rise
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.
Moreover, a woman from Texas attempted in May to drown a 3-year-old Palestinian girl. 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. 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.
