WASHINGTON, DC –
A Texas woman has been sentenced to five years in prison for the attempted murder and injury of a 3-year-old Palestinian-American Muslim girl in a May 2024 incident that local police officially labeled as being motivated by racial bias.
Court proceedings confirmed that Elizabeth Wolf, 43, pleaded guilty to the charges before Judge Andy Porter, waiving her right to a jury trial. The sentencing brings a legal conclusion to an attack that sent shockwaves across the United States and was condemned by then-President Joe Biden.
A Climate of Fear at the Poolside
The horrific incident took place at a swimming pool in an apartment complex in Euless, Texas. According to the police report, Wolf initiated an argument with the girl’s mother, who was at the pool with her 3-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son, by aggressively questioning their origins. The situation quickly escalated when Wolf allegedly attempted to drown the young girl and then tried to grab her 6-year-old brother. The quick action of the mother saved her daughter, and the children were medically cleared by first responders.
The attack has been highlighted by human rights advocates as a stark example of the volatile climate of religious and ethnic hostility that has taken root across the United States since the start of the war in Gaza following the October 2023 Hamas attack. Advocacy groups point to a visible and worrying rise in threats directed at American Muslims, Arabs, and Jews.
The attack joins a growing list of bias-motivated incidents in the US. Concerns over anti-Muslim bias have been amplified by other recent acts, including the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy in Illinois, a stabbing attack on a Palestinian-American man in Texas, and a violent mob assault on pro-Palestinian protesters in California.
Conversely, incidents raising alarms over antisemitism and anti-Israeli attitudes include the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, an attack in Colorado that killed one person, and an arson attack targeting the residence of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. The totality of these events underscores the dangerous escalation of hatred that is increasingly dividing American communities.
