A 42-year-old American woman faces attempted murder charges after allegedly trying to drown a three-year-old girl in a swimming pool in Texas.
Elizabeth Wolf is accused of targeting the child in what police describe as a racially-motivated attack following an altercation with the youngster's Palestinian mother.
The incident, which took place in May in the town of Euless, saw Wolf initially arrested for public intoxication. Authorities claim she was inebriated during the alleged assault.
Police then investigated further and charged her with attempted murder and injury to a child.
Sky News reported that the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Wolf approached the mother who was wearing a hijab and speaking in a foreign language.
Police said that Wolf tried to grab the woman’s six-year-old son but he was able to escape her clutches with a bite to his finger.
Wolf is then said to have turned his attention to the three-year-old daughter and forced her underwater.
The mother was able to rescue the child with the help of a nearby witness.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations wants the incident to be considered a hate crime.
The mother is quoted by the group 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."
