12 Year Old Staten Islander Charged With Hate Crime For Bullying Muslim Girl
A Dreyfus Intermediate School sixth-grader was arrested today on felony hate-crime charges.
The 12-year-old boy and an accomplice — who is being sought — allegedly assaulted a female classmate about noon in the Stapleton school.
The 12-year-old reportedly demanded to know if she is Muslim and attempted to pull off her headscarf, a law enforcement source told the Advance.
A source at the school described the victim as an honors student.
The boy was taken from the school by officers from the North Shore’s 120th Precinct and charged with “harassing the girl, beating her, throwing her to the ground, asking if she is Muslim and trying to pull off her scarf,” the law enforcement source said.
UPDATE:
Gothamist reports that the attacker may also have been Muslim, which raises questions over whether the hate crimes charges were warranted (assault though would still apply).