Woman Charged With Hate Crime After Allegedly Attacking Muslim Women, Infants

By Kenrya Rankin Sep 12, 2016

Emirjeta Xhelili was charged with two counts of felony assault as a hate crime and acting in a manner injurious to a child on Friday (September 9) after allegedly assaulting two Muslim mothers and their children on Thursday (September 8).

The New York Post reports that the Brooklyn resident allegedly punched, kicked and attempted to forcibly remove the hijab of two Muslim women who were taking a walk with their children in the borough’s Bath Beach neighborhood. She also knocked over one of the strollers and attempted to take the other one, while the babies lay inside. CNN reports that none of the victims were seriously hurt.

Per court documents filed by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office—whose head, Ken Thompson asked the court to skip jail time for the NYPD officer who killed Akai Gurley—Xhelili (32), shouted at the women, who are 23 and 24: “Get the fuck out of America, bitches. You don’t belong here!” She continued, “This is the United States of America, you’re not supposed to be different from us.”

She was arrested 30 minutes after the encounter and bail was set at $50,000 bond or $25,000 cash. The Post says it uncovered Facebook posts from Xhelili that were published shortly before the attack; at press time, they appeared to have been removed or made private. Per the Post:

Her Facebook page, which features smiley pictures of herself swimming with dolphins, is full of crude, typo-laced rants written all in caps. Many postings seem to be directed at her Muslim neighbors.

“Your f**king alll llah is so powerful that you need to rent houses near me, have stores near me and be visible to me… nobody sees you, notice you or cares you are alive or your f**king all ah, you are worshipin [sic] a horny piece of sh*t,” she posted yesterday shortly before her arrest.

She also seemed to warn of her plans to take on women in traditional Muslim clothing.

“From this moment on, every woman that waers (sic) the jihab/hijab will go to hell!! I cant stand you f—ing hypocrites. You have been warned,” she posted Wednesday, the day before the alleged assault.

The Council on American Islamic Relations of New York issued a statement following Xhelili’s arraignment. “We urge the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office to prosecute this horrific attack vigorously, sending the message that hate attacks targeting any minority group will not be tolerated,” executive director Afaf Nasher said in a statement quoted in the CNN article.