A 12 -year -old Connecticut student who, according to the police, assaulted two of his Muslim classmates have been accused of a hate crime in the attack.
Four seventh grade students participated in an altercation in the Wallace intermediate school in Waterbury, Connecticut, earlier this month, and two 13 -year -old Muslim girls were injured, police said.
Injured adolescents regularly use Hijabs, said Connecticut chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CT). His relatives asked for an investigation into the attack, arguing that adolescents may have been attacked due to their religion, police said.
Waterbury police said Friday in a statement that the authorities determined that “the altercation was motivated by religion and/or ethnic origin.”
The 12 -year -old was accused in the court of intimidation children based on intolerance and bias in the first and second degree, authorities said. A second student has been sent to a youth fun program instead of being arrested, police said.
The mayor of Waterbury, Paul Pernerewski, said the attack, which occurred on March 3, was an “isolated incident”, and the interim superintendent of Waterbury public schools, Schwartz, said the attack did not represent a major problem within the school.
“While this was not part of a generalized problem, this is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to ensure that our students are safe and respectful to each other,” he said in a statement.
Cair-CT called the “unacceptable” attack.
“Schools must be safe spaces for all students, regardless of their religion or ethnicity,” said Farhan Memon, president of CAIR-CT, in a statement. “What, as reported, happened to these two girls is unacceptable, and the district has the legal and moral obligation to take decisive measures to avoid more damage.”
Memon has asked the school district to implement anti-bullying training throughout the school focused on racial and religious discrimination.
“This attack against Muslim students is unacceptable and reflects a broader pattern of intimidation and discrimination that must be approached urgently,” Memon said in a statement.
The authorities said Friday that the Waterbury Department of Education recognized the attack as bullying, has taken disciplinary measures and implemented improved school security measures.
