Elizabeth Wolf is charged with attempted murder after allegedly trying to drown the child following a row with her Palestinian mother.
By Kieren Williams, news reporter
A woman has been charged with attempted murder after she was accused of trying to drown a three-year-old girl in an alleged racist attack.
Witness described Elizabeth Wolf as “very intoxicated” when she allegedly tried to drown the child in a swimming pool following a row with her Palestinian mother, police said.
The 42-year-old was first arrested in May at an apartment complex pool in Euless in the US state of Texas for public intoxication.
After a police investigation, she has now been charged with attempted murder and injury to a child.
The Texas chapter of civil rights group the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Texas) claimed that Wolf “interrogated” the child’s mother.
CAIR-Texas said the mother was wearing a hijab and speaking to her children in a foreign language when Wolf approached her.
Police said that after questioning the woman, Wolf allegedly tried to grab her six-year-old son and he was able to escape but suffered a cut to his finger.
As the woman helped her son, Wolf allegedly grabbed the woman’s three-year-old daughter and forced her underwater.
CAIR-Texas said that with the help of a nearby witness, the mother was able to pull her daughter to safety before emergency services arrived.
It has called on authorities to investigate the incident as a hate crime.
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The group quoted the girl’s mother as saying: “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.
“My daughter is traumatised; 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.”
Texas state representative Salman Bhojani said: “I’m shocked and appalled by this alleged racist, Islamophobic occurrence that took place in my town.
“Hate has no place in Euless, District 92, or anywhere in our great state.”
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
