A woman faces hate crime charges after she attacked two Muslim women in Brooklyn who were walking with their babies in strollers, according to the city police department.
Advertisement
Emirjeta Xhelili allegedly hurled Islamophobic insults as she pounced on her two victims.
She also screamed “get the f– out of America b–s, you don’t belong here”, the women allege. “Get the f*ck out of America, b*tches…”
Emirjeta Xhelili, 32, allegedly tried to rip the hijab off the women’s heads during the attack in Brooklyn on Thursday.
“This is America – you shouldn’t be different from us”, she yelled, prosecutors said.
Both the women and their babies were not badly hurt, police told the New York Daily News.
Shortly before the attack Xhelili made a series of social media postings attacking Muslims and African-Americans.
“What is your Allah doing to me?” Some of her other Facebook posts refer to seeing “aliens with black skin” at the post office.
“You lucky for a time that is left, for I have counted your days!”
She is now facing charges of assault, reckless endangerment of a child and harassment.
“She didn’t even care for the well-being of a baby – that’s how serious this hate crime is”, Assistant District Attorney Kelli Muse said at the arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court.
The New York Post reported that the day before the assault, Xhelili wrote on her Facebook account (display name “Mary Magadalene”), “From this moment on, every woman that waers (sic) the jihab/hijab will go to hell!” Bail for Xhelili has been set at $50,000.
The judge also issued an order of protection banning her from contacting either of the victims or their children.
Advertisement
The Council on Islamic Relations released a statement imploring the DA to treat the incident seriously, while encouraging local mosques and Islamic institutions to increase security, stating that the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks may be used as “an excuse to attack American Muslims”.
