A 12-year-old student is charged with a hate crime in juvenile court after allegedly being a member of a group that attacked twin seventh-grade Muslim students at their middle school in Waterbury, Connecticut, authorities said Friday.
A court-issued summons to juvenile court charged the girl allegedly involved in the altercation with first and second-degree intimidation based on bigotry and bias.
“Investigators determined that the altercation was motivated by religion and/or ethnicity, meeting the legal definition of a hate crime,” according to a joint statement from the Waterbury State’s Attorney’s Office, Waterbury Police, and city officials.
According to Farhan Memon, chair of the Council on American Islamic Relations’ Connecticut chapter, the twin 13-year-old girls had their hijabs removed and were kicked and punched in the locker room during their gym period.
“They were beaten up by two of their classmates,” Memon told me. “One girl had bruises on her face and her sister had something held against her neck.”
Memon told CNN that one of the girls felt something slide across her neck, causing an abrasion.Memon reported that the girls’ father took them to the hospital, where doctors found bruises and scrapes on their faces, noses, and necks.
Another student “was referred to a youth diversionary program as an alternative to arrest, based on her involvement in the incident,” according to the city’s statement.
It’s unclear whether the two juveniles have appeared in juvenile court or have legal representation.
In a statement, Waterbury Public Schools Interim Superintendent Darren Schwartz stated that the incident is “an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to ensure our students are safe and respectful of one another.”
The incident occurred during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, and comes as Muslims report a record-high level of anti-Arab and Islamophobic bias in the United States.
In its annual civil rights report, released last week, the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported receiving 8,658 complaints of Islamophobia last year, the highest number ever recorded by the organization.
Memon stated that the twins’ family contacted CAIR one day after the locker room attack, which resulted in the nonprofit’s involvement.
Although Waterbury Mayor Paul Pernerewski referred to the attack at the middle school as a “isolated incident,” CAIR reports that the twins, who immigrated to the US from Egypt last year, had previously faced bullying due to their religion and ethnicity.
“Although the sisters are not fluent in English, they confirmed that in the weeks leading up to the incident, students—including the girls who allegedly assaulted them—used terms such as ‘Arab,’ ‘Muslim,’ and ‘Hijab’ while laughing and making gestures at them,” CAIR stated in a letter to administrators on March 18.
According to CAIR, the twins reported threats from the same student who has since been charged in the locker room attack just days before it occurred.
According to CAIR, the student “dragg(ed) her finger across her neck in a death sign,” according to a letter to city officials. According to Waterbury Public Schools, the gesture was made on March 3 following the fight.
When asked about previous incidents involving the students, the superintendent of Waterbury Public Schools stated that one occurred on February 28 and “stemmed from a misconception that the twins were talking about the offender in class, which was deemed to be untrue.”
“The teacher immediately mediated between the students and offered further support, which was declined by all students,” superintendent Schwartz told CNN in an email.
Schwartz stated that the February 28 conflict “would not meet that threshold” for bullying.
Police initially investigated the March 3 incident as a disturbance or assault, but the family later provided additional information claiming their daughters were victims of a hate crime, prompting a “thorough” investigation of the claims, according to the police department.
“Every student deserves to feel secure and respected in their learning environment, and we will continue to work closely with our school partners to uphold that standard,” Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo said in a statement.
