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Muslim women and children attacked in alleged hate crime

The assailant allegedly yelled “You’re not supposed to be different from us.”

CREDIT: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
CREDIT: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

A Brooklyn woman was arraigned on Friday for allegedly attacking two Muslim women while they pushed their children in strollers through the city.

According to court documents, Emirjeta Xhelili tried to rip off the women’s hijabs, and yelled, “this is the United States of America, you’re not supposed to be different from us.” Xhelili allegedly then launched into an expletive-laden rant, telling the women to “get the (expletive) out of America (expletive),” and that they “don’t belong here,” according to CNN.

Xhelili also attacked the children — aged 11 months and 15 months — pushing one stroller to the ground and rattling the other while the child was still inside.

The incident is being investigated as a hate crime by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.

The United States has seen a marked rise in Islamophobic incidents in the past year, as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s blatantly xenophobic campaign, as well as anti-Islamic rhetoric from conservative politicians, has likely helped foster and fuel anti-Islamic sentiment throughout the country.

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Since the horrific Paris attacks in December of last year, ThinkProgress has recorded 103 instances of “egregious Islamophobia” in the United States — an unprecedented spike, according to the Center for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Anti-Islam Incidents Since Paris

Last updated 8/11/2016.

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