NEW YORK: A woman screaming anti-Muslim insults allegedly attacked two hijab-wearing women as they pushed their children in strollers in New York, authorities said.
Emirjeta Xhelili, 32, allegedly tried to rip the hijab off the women’s heads during the attack in Brooklyn on Thursday.
She struck the women in the face and body, and repeatedly shouted, “This is the United States of America; you’re not supposed to be different from us,” a court statement allege.
Xhelili also allegedly told the women to “get the (expletive) out of America (expletive), [they] don’t belong here.”
The New Yorker also attacked their children, pushing one stroller to the ground and rattling the other while babies sat inside, the court documents said.
The 11-month-old and the 15-month-old, along with their mothers, received minor injuries.
Shortly after the incident, New York Police Department officers arrested Xhelili in Brooklyn.
During an arraignment Friday, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office described the incident as a hate crime, charging her with offenses including assault, reckless endangerment of a child and harassment.
The New York Legal Aid Society attorney who represented Xhelili in court could not be reached for comment.
Xhelili is scheduled to appear again in court Wednesday. Bail is set at $50,000 bond or $25,000 cash.
This article originally appeared on CNN.
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