A Texas woman, identified as Elizabeth Wolf, aged 42, has been formally indicted by a grand jury for the attempted drowning of a three-year-old Palestinian American Muslim girl in a May incident. Local police reported that the crime was motivated by racial bias. Wolf was charged by a Tarrant County grand jury with a hate crime enhancement, which could increase the severity of her sentence if convicted. She faces charges of attempted capital murder of a person under 10 years of age and intentionally causing bodily injury to a child.
The incident occurred at an apartment complex swimming pool in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Euless. According to a police report, Wolf argued with the girl's mother, who was also at the pool with her six-year-old son, and inquired about their origin. Wolf attempted to drown the three-year-old and also tried to grab the six-year-old boy. The mother managed to rescue her daughter from the water, and local medics attended to the children, who were medically cleared.
Human rights advocates have expressed concerns over increasing threats against American Muslims, Arabs, and Jews, particularly since the conflict in Gaza. Other recent incidents in the US include the fatal stabbing of a six-year-old Palestinian American boy in Illinois, the stabbing of a Palestinian American man in Texas, and the shooting of three Palestinian American students in Vermont. A former Cornell University student received a 21-month prison sentence for online threats against Jews, and a Jordanian citizen in Florida was charged for threats against businesses perceived to support Israel.
