A Texas woman should face hate crime charges ater allegedly trying to drown a 3-year-old Muslim girl, police say.
The Eucless Police say Elizabeth Wolf, 42, has already been charged with attempted capital murder and injury to a child in connection with the incident.
Witnesses told police that Wolf tried to drown the girl after arguing with the mother at an apartment complex swimming pool last month.
The victim's mother, who is Muslim and wears a hijab, said Wolf began questioning where she was from and if the two children playing at the pool were hers.
At one point, Wolf allegedly jumped into the pool to pull the woman's 6-year-old son into the deep end. He managed to pull away, but Wolf then allegedly attempted to force his 3-year-old sister underwater.
The Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who identified the family as Muslim and Palestinian, said in a statement that when the mother tried to rescue her daughter, Wolf allegedly "snatched off the woman's head scarf as well as kicking her to keep her away while forcing her daughter's head underwater."
As Wolf was taken into custody by police officers, she allegedly shouted to a bystander who was comforting the mother, "Tell her I will kill her, and I will kill her whole family," according to the CAIR statement.
"We are American citizens, originally from Palestine, and I don't know where to go to feel safe with my kids," the mother said in a statement provided by CAIR.
"My country is facing a war, and we are facing that hate here," she said.
The mother said her daughter remains traumatized by the confrontation.
"Whenever I open the apartment door, she runs away and hides, telling me she is afraid the lady will come and immerse her head in the water again."
Police first announced the case several days ago but confirmed on Monday that they were recommending the hate crime enhancement to the charges.
