A Brooklyn woman has been arrested on hate crime charges in connection with a disturbing viral video showing hot coffee being thrown at a father wearing a Palestinian scarf while he was with his son at a playground.
Hadasa Bozakkaravani, 48, was arrested Tuesday and charged with four hate crimes, along with others for assault, assault on a person under the age of 11, reckless endangerment, aggravated harassment and menacing, the NYPD said.
His arrest comes nearly two weeks after a video went viral of the horrific attack in Fort Greene on Nov. 7, exactly one month after Hamas terrorists slaughtered Israelis.
Indian American father Ashish Prashar, 40, was wearing a keffiyeh — a traditional black-and-white Arab scarf — while on the basketball court at Edmonds Playground on Dekalb Avenue with his 18-month-old son when the woman started hurling Islamophobic abuse, he told CBS News.
“He told me several times that I don’t belong here,” Prashar said – saying he also told her, “You are a terrorist.”
Hadasa Bozakkaravani, 48, was arrested on hate crime charges stemming from a viral hate crime attack.
He appeared to be triggered by Prashar’s son trying to interact with his own son, he said.
“You and your son go,” the woman in the hat and sunglasses yelled at him in the now-viral video.
The attacker was seen throwing coffee at a father who was with his young son at a Fort Greene playground.
Prashar, a writer and outspoken activist for Palestinian rights, said he received an Arab scarf as a gift from a Palestinian Christian more than a decade ago while working in the West Bank.
The father said he was holding his toddler in his arms when the woman attacked them and called him a terrorist.
He also allegedly said that Prashar – who is of Punjabi descent and was born in London – was not here, according to CBS News.
Victim Ashish Prashar, 40, said the woman attacked him while he was holding his 18-month-old son at the playground. ABC7
According to the father, had he not immediately put his son down and shielded him with his legs during the confrontation, the 18-month-old child could have been burned by the attacker’s hot drink.
When a bystander intervened, the woman grabbed her own child and left.
Prashar said he suffered several scratches and bruises from being hit in the face by the attacker, but his son was unharmed.
“It’s post-9/11 all over again,” Prashar said. “Like everyone chocolate is now a target. We have been completely insulted by our president and our institutions.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the “heinous” attack and the father and son.
“These fanatical attacks must stop,” said Afaf Nasher, executive director of CAIR’s New York chapter.
Bozakkaravani pleaded not guilty to all nine charges against him and was released on his own recognizance, NBC News reported.
He is due back in court on January 24.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
