US woman charged with attempted murder for trying to drown Palestinian-American girl
Elizabeth Wolf, described as ‘very intoxicated’ at time of May assault, allegedly questioned mother about her origins, then forced 3-year-old’s head under water at pool
A US woman has been charged with the attempted murder of a 3-year-old girl who she allegedly tried to drown in a swimming pool after questioning the girl’s Palestinian mother about her origins.
Elizabeth Wolf, 42, was charged with attempted capital murder and injury to a child according to the police department of Euless, Texas.
The Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Friday demanded that a hate crime investigation be opened into the May 19 incident. In a statement, it noted that the mother was wearing a hijab when a “White American woman” approached her “with racist interrogations” before jumping into the pool and attacking the children.
The civil rights group also asked for a higher bail bond to be set for Wolf, who was released from jail on a bail bond the day after the incident.
The mother, identified only as Mrs. H in the CAIR statement, said, “We are American citizens, originally from Palestine, and I don’t know where to go to feel safe with my kids. My country is facing a war, and we are facing that hate here,” a reference to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
According to the police report, witnesses said that a woman who was “very intoxicated” had tried to drown a child in the swimming pool of an apartment complex. Wolf was apprehended as she tried to leave and initially placed under arrest for public intoxication.
The child’s mother told officers that Wolf had asked her where she was from and if the two children with her in the pool, a boy 6, and the girl, were hers. The mother told officers that Wolf made remarks about her not being an American and “other racial statements.”
Wolf then jumped into the water and grabbed at the boy and girl. The boy managed to pull away with the help of his mother, though suffering a scratch to his finger. Wolf forced the girl’s head underwater, police said.
The mother was able to free the girl as the youngster called for help and “was coughing up water,” police said.
Both children were evaluated and were medically cleared, according to police.
In the CAIR statement, the mother said her daughter has been “traumatized. Whenever I open the apartment door, she runs away and hides, telling me she is afraid the lady will come and immerse her head in the water again.”
“I’m shocked and appalled by this alleged racist, Islamophobic occurrence that took place in my town,” Rep. Salman Bhojani said in the statement.
In January, CAIR released a report saying it received 3,578 hate-related complaints during the last three months of 2023, marking a 178 percent increase over the same period in 2022.
The spike came alongside the Israel-Hamas war that began on October 7 when the Palestinian terror group launched a devastating attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Less than 10 days later, a 71-year-old Illinois man was accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Palestinian boy and seriously wounding his 32-year-old mother against the backdrop of the war.
