The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
Brooklyn woman arrested on hate crime charges over viral video of hot coffee being thrown at dad and toddler son
Ashish Prashar was wearing an Arab scarf when a woman called him a terrorist and threw coffee at him.
nypost.com
Brooklyn woman arrested on hate crime charges over viral video of hot coffee being thrown at dad and toddler son
By
Social Links for Snejana Farberov
Published Nov. 23, 2023, 8:16 a.m. ET
A Brooklyn woman has been arrested on hate crime charges over a disturbing viral video showing hot coffee being thrown at a dad wearing a Palestinian scarf while he was with his toddler son in a playground.
Hadasa Bozakkaravani, 48, was taken into custody Tuesday and hit with four hate crime counts, along with others for assault, assault of a person under 11, reckless endangerment, aggravated harassment and menacing, the NYPD said.
Her arrest came nearly two weeks after a video went viral of a vile attack in Fort Greene on Nov. 7, which was exactly a month after Hamas terrorists slaughtered Israelis.
Indian American dad Ashish Prashar, 40, was wearing a keffiyeh — a traditional black-and-white Arab scarf — while at 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.
“She told me several times that I didn’t belong here,” Prashar said — saying she also told him, “You are a terrorist.”
4 Hadasa Bozakkaravani, 48, has been arrested on hate crime charges stemming from a viral hate crime attack.
She appeared triggered by Prashar’s son trying to interact with her own child, he said.
“You and your son get away,” the woman in a cap and sunglasses yelled at him in the now-viral video.
4 The attacker was seen throwing coffee at the dad who was with his toddler in a Fort Greene playground.
Prashar, a writer and activist who has been a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights, said he received the Arab scarf as a gift from a Christian Palestinian more than a decade ago while working in the West Bank.
4 A Brooklyn woman has been arrested in connection with a viral hate crime attack.
The dad said he was holding his tot in his arms when the woman attacked them and called him a terrorist.
She also allegedly said that Prashar — who is of Punjabi descent and was born in London — didn’t belong here, according to CBS News.
4 Victim Ashish Prashar, 40, said the woman attacked him while he was holding his 18-month-old son at a playground. ABC7
According to the dad, had he not quickly put his son down and shielded him with his legs during the confrontation, the 18-month-old could have been burned by the assailant’s piping-hot brew.
When a bystander intervened, the woman grabbed her own child and left.
Prashar said he suffered some scrapes and bruises from being hit in the face by the attacker, but his son was unharmed.
“This is post-9/11 again,” Prashar said. “Like every brown person now is a target. We’ve been completely dehumanized by our president and our institutions.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations blasted the “despicable” attack and the father and son.
“These bigoted attacks must stop,” said Afaf Nasher, executive director of CAIR’s New York chapter.
Bozakkaravani pleaded not guilty to all nine charges against her and was freed on her own recognizance, reported NBC News.
She is due back in court on Jan. 24.