12-Year-Old Charged with Hate Crime in Attack on Muslim Students at Connecticut School

The assault, involving the removal of hijabs and injuries to two 13-year-old girls, has prompted calls for systemic reforms to address bullying and Islamophobia in schools.

A 12-year-old student at Wallace Middle School in Waterbury, Connecticut, has been charged with intimidation based on bigotry and bias, meeting the legal definition of a hate crime.
The victims, twin 13-year-old Muslim girls and recent immigrants from Egypt, were attacked in the girls' locker room, where their hijabs were forcibly removed, and they sustained injuries requiring medical attention.
The victims' family reported prior incidents of bullying, including threats and derogatory comments about their religion and ethnicity, allegedly involving the same students charged in the attack.
Local officials have characterized the incident as isolated, while CAIR-CT disputes this, citing it as part of a broader pattern of Islamophobia and calling for mandatory anti-bullying training in schools.
The Waterbury Department of Education has implemented safety measures and disciplinary actions in response, as the incident draws national attention to rising anti-Muslim bias in the U.S., particularly during Ramadan.