Muslim girl among four charged in fight involving Skyline High students
A 16-year-old Muslim girl who advocates say was a victim of a hate crime in Ann Arbor last month was criminally charged with two counts of disturbing the peace for her involvement in the incident, her attorney said today.
Two 15-year-old boys were charged with assault and a 15-year-old girl was charged with two counts of disturbing the peace in the Sept. 8 fight involving Skyline High School students, Washtenaw County Chief Deputy Assistant Prosecutor Steve Hiller said.
Hiller declined to provide specifics on any of the teenagers' involvement in the fight. He said he did not anticipate further charges.
The names of the teens were not released because they are charged as juveniles.
Attorney Nabih Ayad, who is representing the Muslim girl, said it’s “outrageous” his client must appear in juvenile court to face the misdemeanor charges.
According to initial reports, the girl needed six stitches after a group of other students reportedly attacked her and pulled off her hijab, or head scarf, while shouting racial slurs.
“It’s outrageous to the Muslim community in Ann Arbor,” said Ayad. “It’s outrageous to the Arab community.”
He added, “Her family left Iraq to start a new life in this country, and they’re met with this type of action.”
The incident occurred near the North Maple Estates apartments at about 3:30 p.m. The confrontation started on a bus leaving the high school.
Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the organization never thought the girl would be charged. Members of the organization talked to her and three other witnesses about the incident, he said.
“It seems like the person who actually commits the assault breaks the peace,” he said. “Violence breaks the peace.”
Ayad said the girl should not have been suspended from school after the incident.Â
The girl, her family and Ayad spoke to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division Educational Opportunities Section two weeks ago and filed a complaint, Ayad said.
DOJ spokesman Alejandro Miyar could not immediately be reached for comment today.
Lee Higgins covers crime and courts for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at leehiggins@annarbor.com or 734-623-2527.
Comments
emma
Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 8:19 p.m.
The charges are not very surprising, the police cant do much when two juveniles fight but charge both with disturbing the peace. As for the two black guys charged with assault, that's probably when the girl was dragged to a nearby house and beaten up by a group. So it makes sense, but these charges are too light still. Throw the book at the animals.
nojoke35
Sun, Nov 1, 2009 : 12:29 a.m.
she should be charged. she is not the victim as everyone is either assuming or believing. her brother and sister aren't innocent either. they played a part in this mess as well as the others maybe more. it wasn't the muslim girl that got jumped by a group of students, it was her, her brother and sister that tried to jump on the 14 yr old girl that basically got the best of the one sister.
jns131
Sat, Oct 31, 2009 : 9:19 a.m.
If she was in Saudia Arabia she would have gotten 40 lashes. If she was a Taliban in Afghanistan? She would have been put on display in some arena. Iraq and Iran? The list goes on. These bleeding heart liberals are crying foul because one of their own has been put on display because they say she is the victim. I am glad to see everyone else staying silent. Might want to reread the report. The fight started on the bus. She finished it off the bus. It takes one to start a fight. So, for all you people appalled by this? Grow up. It takes a village to raise a child and apparently this childs village isn't telling her to talk it out. I find for the prosecutor. Now to see this all plays out. Good job prosecutors. We need to teach our own that violence is not the answer.
snapshot
Fri, Oct 30, 2009 : 11:43 p.m.
I think the coverage on this issue has been as thorough and unbiased as possible under the legal parameters covering minors involved in crimes. I also think that the Muslim girl's attorney is just a little more vocal and opinionated than the norm. Noise obviously does not detract from credible evidence and the DA obviously feels there is credible evidence to charge the Muslim girl. It is possible for a victom to contribute, or even instigate an assult upon themselves. That doesn't justify the assualt but it does justify holding all parties accontable for their individual contribution to the crime. That's what I see happening in this incident. These charges will certainly weaken the planned civil suit her attorney wants to file. Thank God we live in a country that has a constitutional seperation of church and state.
Lee Higgins
Fri, Oct 30, 2009 : 2:26 p.m.
Hi Rhe Buttle, We'll continue to follow this case and attempt to get more details.
Rhe Buttle
Fri, Oct 30, 2009 : 1:16 p.m.
Mr. Higgins - Perhaps my grammar skills are old and antiquated, but I would have thought that first you describe her as a girl in an attack, then you add "her attorney believes the attack to be related to her religious affiliation". In that manner you bring attention to an attack, and you let the attorney's words remain in the ownership of the attorney. All too frequently this "news source" is quick to put labels on people; "the burglar, an Army veteran", etc. I don't see you writing "the accident was caused by a newspaperman". Either you label all citizenry in equanimity or you should drop it.
grimdaddy1
Fri, Oct 30, 2009 : 11:15 a.m.
she is being chared because she started the fight verbaly and lost it physicaly, long history of arabs and blacks fight in the ann arbor schools. a teen night in front of the necto about 5 years ago turned into a riot between black kids and arab kids the ended up with gun shots. this is nothing new or nothing big just a chance to make some noise for political media seekers. no hate crime here just kids fighting and that happens all the time in these schools.
Lee Higgins
Fri, Oct 30, 2009 : 10:28 a.m.
Hi Rhe Buttle, The girl's attorney claimed she was attacked because of her ethnicity or religion. That's why it's included in the story.
survivor
Fri, Oct 30, 2009 : 10:20 a.m.
I was driving by North Maple Estates when the so called "disturbing the peace" incident was happening. All I heard was road construction and heavy equipment tearing down a building.
KeepingItReal
Fri, Oct 30, 2009 : 9:45 a.m.
Rhe Buttle; Walker 101: Rhe, the article has already stated that other youth are black youth from the North Maple Housing site. Trust me, whenever there is a black person involved in anything negative, their race is automatically identified. Walker 101: Obviously the young lady that was also charged did something to justify being charged especially after a through investigation.
walker101
Fri, Oct 30, 2009 : 9:05 a.m.
Get the crap beat out of you up during a hate crime, and they throw the book at you for disturbing the peace?? Didn't the other kids take her hijab off which started this incident, I believe a friend or family individual came to her defense? Its outrageous".
Rhe Buttle
Fri, Oct 30, 2009 : 8:23 a.m.
So the one girl is Muslim, and the others are...? I mean, come on, if you're going to use religion as an identifier, the article should read "a Muslim girl, along with a heathen boy, a Catholic girl, and an atheist" or whatever their religious affiliations are. Biased reporting. I am not a Muslim, my religious affiliation is no one's business but my own.
Sherry
Fri, Oct 30, 2009 : 6:51 a.m.
I do not think that anyone of us are getting the full story of what really went on that day. A girl was attacked and had to have 6 stitches put in her head. What led up to this fight? Nobody is really talking about what really happened that day. There have been so many mixed stories about all of this and a whole lot of secrecy. From now on why do not the News Channels or newspapers not mention the race or ethic backgrounds of any child involved in fights. It is common knowledge that both sides will say what happened and the truth of the whole matter is that the truth lies in the middle. Fights happen everyday. Some are just out of meanness and then their are ones that someone had words with. No side is usually a 100% right and until the children are taught at home not to start a fight then it is going to happen. These teachings fall on the parents and should be re-enforced by the teachers in the schools. Kids fight, they have always fought for one thing or another but lets keep the race issues out as it only makes for more hate. This girl must have broken the law as did some of the other students. Nothing much will come of the charges anyways but maybe someone will have learned from the mistakes made and let's just move on with it and let the Courts decide.
Craig Lounsbury
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 9:51 p.m.
when I was a kid growing up in Ypsilanti in the 60's a 6 stitch fight while a bit unusual was certainly not unheard of. They didn't however make the news. Of course back then there was no such thing as the Internet, there were only 4 channels on the tv and they pretty much went off the air for several hours over night. My how things have changed.
eagleman
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 9:12 p.m.
There is more to this story than the girl and the Council on Islamic-American Relations are letting. They interviewed three witness, but who were those witnesses? And how many witnessed the attack? It is outrageous that the Council would whin about a lack of fairness in a community that has been nothing but fair to Muslims.
tracyann
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 7 p.m.
All that's ever printed about is the fight itself. I want to know what lead up to the fight. Why did it happen? Did these kids just get off the bus and randomly jump her, as it sounds? Or is there more to it that we're not being told? And if so, why not?
KeepingItReal
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 3:54 p.m.
Obviously, the prosecutor's office was able to collect information that justified the Muslim girl being charged as well. I will say this for the Arab Community and CAIR...they are standing up for one of their own. We have not heard a peep from the African American community, its so called leadership or its representative organizations offering support for the African American youth. I am not advocating any type of demonstrations or protest but simply a voice showing these young people that they too belong to a communtiy that values them.
Tony Dearing
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 3:47 p.m.
There have been conflicting reports regarding what lead to the fight. The prosecutor's office said an investigation did not find evidence of a hate crime. http://www.annarbor.com/news/washtenaw-county-prosecutors-assault-involving-skyline-high-student-was-not-a-hate-crime/#at
Chanchito
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 3:31 p.m.
This is a very sad story -- it is obviously a hate crime. Why else was this girl so viciously attacked?
BornNRaised
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 3:30 p.m.
When this story broke, it was on the news. Channel 4 or 7, can't remember. This is NOT ME SAYING THIS.... the students said they witnessed her, and I believe her brother (?) or at least another male get off the buss and shout 'racial slurs' and a group of African American students. That's when the fight broke out. Again, this is per one of the students that the news interviewed. Seems there's quite a bit more to this story than her lawyer is telling everyone.
Lee Higgins
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 3:22 p.m.
Hi cwk, Thanks for the comment. We have interviewed or attempted to interview everyone involved.
Lee Higgins
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 3:19 p.m.
Hi David, We have obtained more information and the story has been updated.
fd2009
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 3:17 p.m.
What constitutes 'Disturbing peace'? If a victim of an apparent act of group violence is charged, what conclusions would the perpetrators and victims draw from it?
cwk
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 3:03 p.m.
It's clear that her attorney and the head of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations feel the charges are outrageous, but what is the other side? Why is that not represented in the reporting of this story?
Lee Higgins
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 2:52 p.m.
Hi David, You are correct. In an earlier story, a prosecutor said four students will be ordered to appear in juvenile court on undisclosed charges. We are aware of two people being charged. We will continue to monitor this story. Here's the link to the earlier story: http://tiny.cc/nZ9sb
Tony Dearing
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 2:51 p.m.
A comment was removed because it violated our conversation guidelines.
David Cahill
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 2:39 p.m.
I remember an earlier AnnArbor.com story in its print edition (only) saying that four youths would have Juvenile Court petitions filed against them. Are other shoes going to drop?