A Texas woman has been formally indicted by a grand jury in the attempted drowning of a 3-year-old Palestinian American Muslim girl in a May incident that local police said was motivated by racial bias.

The suspect, identified as Elizabeth Wolf, aged 42, was charged by a Tarrant County grand jury in an indictment filed last month that included a hate crime enhancement, according to court records that came to light on Tuesday.

The enhancement may raise the severity of Wolf’s sentence if she is found guilty.

 Elizabeth Wolf, accused of the attempted drowning of a three-year-old Palestinian-American Muslim girl, poses for an undated police booking photograph in the Dallas suburb of Euless, Texas, US. — Euless Police Department/Handout via Reuters
Elizabeth Wolf, accused of the attempted drowning of a three-year-old Palestinian-American Muslim girl, poses for an undated police booking photograph in the Dallas suburb of Euless, Texas, US. — Euless Police Department/Handout via Reuters

Wolf, whose representative could not immediately be reached for comment, was charged with attempted capital murder of a person under 10 years of age and intentionally causing bodily injury to a child.

According to a police report, the incident in May occurred at an apartment complex swimming pool in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Euless, when the suspect argued with the mother of the three-year-old girl, who was also at the pool with her six-year-old son, and asked where they were from.

The suspect tried to drown the three-year-old and attempted to grab the six-year-old boy, the police report said. The mother was able to pull her daughter from the water, police said, and local medics responded to the scene and the children were medically cleared.

Human rights advocates have warned about rising threats against American Muslims, Arabs and Jews since the eruption of Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

Other recent alarming US incidents include the October fatal stabbing of a six-year-old Palestinian American boy in Illinois, the February stabbing of a Palestinian American man in Texas and the November shooting of three Palestinian American students in Vermont.

A former Cornell University student was sentenced in August to 21 months in prison for posting online threats against Jews, and a Jordanian citizen in Florida was charged over threats against businesses over perceived support of Israel.

Opinion

Editorial

Football elections
17 Nov, 2024

Football elections

PAKISTAN football enters the most crucial juncture of its ‘normalisation’ era next week, when an Extraordinary...
IMF’s concern
17 Nov, 2024

IMF’s concern

ON Friday, the IMF team wrapped up its weeklong unscheduled talks on the Fund’s ongoing $7bn programme with the...
‘Un-Islamic’ VPNs
Updated 17 Nov, 2024

‘Un-Islamic’ VPNs

If curbing pornography is really the country’s foremost concern while it stumbles from one crisis to the next, there must be better ways to do so.
Agriculture tax
Updated 16 Nov, 2024

Agriculture tax

Amendments made in Punjab's agri income tax law are crucial to make the system equitable.
Genocidal violence
16 Nov, 2024

Genocidal violence

A RECENTLY released UN report confirms what many around the world already know: that Israel has been using genocidal...
Breathless Punjab
16 Nov, 2024

Breathless Punjab

PUNJAB’s smog crisis has effectively spiralled out of control, with air quality readings shattering all past...