Two teenaged girls in the bathroom in a Pittsburgh high school came to blows. One of them was cornered and wearing a hijab. The other was white, had a friend with her, and in the mood to prove her superiority and indemnity from the rules. One of them ended up in the hospital overnight with a concussion and bruises all over her body. Guess which one it was.
If you guessed the girl in the hijab, congratulations. You've been paying attention.
Quasim Rashid, Esq. posted this disturbing video on Twitter.
The 14-year-old Muslim girl has been in the U.S. for a few years with her family. Before coming here, she and her family spent two years in a Syrian refugee camp. I wonder what the white girl in the purple sweater has endured, besides being challenged by a smaller, browner student, but I would place bets it doesn't compare to living in a refugee camp from the ages of 9 - 11.
Allegedly the fight broke out because the Muslim girl objected to the white girl vaping in the bathroom. There is a hearing Thursday, wherein it sounds like the school district will try to expel the aggressor (the white girl, if that wasn't clear.) But the district also said, "it will enforce the maximum discipline available according to district policies, but did not say if both, or just one student would face disciplinary action."
So, the Syrian refugee student, who stood up for the rules, and herself, and ended up with a concussion and a hospital stay, might also end up disciplined by the school, are we perfectly clear on that?
Furthermore, Collier police are investigating the incident. Charges are pending against the violent white girl, but somehow, hate crime is not among the crimes with which she might be charged. The police department ruled that out, you see. “At this point, there is no indication that the incident is racially or religiously motivated or involves any kind of hate crime,” police Chief Craig Campbell said in a statement.
Yet, the violent one clearly stated in the video, “You’re lucky you’re from another language, I would crush you, b*tch.” The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has gotten involved because it believes the victim's being Muslim was a factor in the crime. CAIR's president, Safdar Khwaja said, “We don’t believe the motive was random and was at the spur of the moment, we believe there was a bias." He believes the crime was, if not inspired by, at least made worse by her being Muslim.
The aggressor's own words bear that out. Let's hope the school district and the court recognize what is right before their eyes.
