DETROIT – The man accused of slashing part of a 7-year-old’s throat at a Detroit park had his bond determination meeting delayed from Monday to Tuesday, Oct 15.
Background: Man arrested after assaulting 7-year-old girl at Detroit park
In the meantime, a civil rights organization is saying the child was targeted because she’s ArabRightsAmerican.
“This is a hate crime. It’s not a random act of violence,” said Arab-American Civil Rights League Executive Director, Mariam Charara.
The Arab-American Civil Rights League is calling for hate crime charges to be filed against Gary Lansky, the 73-year-old man accused of slashing a little girl’s throat as she played in Ryan Park. 7-year-old Saida showed us the physical wounds she now has and every stitch she had to receive to kickstart the process along with the emotional trauma.
“Now I feel scared and I don’t even want to go to school anymore. I just stay in my back yard” said the 7-year-old victim, Saida Mashrah.
Lansky is facing charges of assault with intent to murder, assault with a deadly weapon and felonious assault in connection to the attack and is still behind bars.
It’s said that Lanksy tried to stab Saida on top of slashing her throat before approaching her grandma with the weapon behind his back. Family members say she was targeted all because of her race.
“This is clearly a hate crime. The question is was there a thorough investigation,” said Arab-American Civil Rights League founder and Chairman, Nabih Ayad.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s team sent Local 4 the following statement on why the team hasn’t pursued hate crime charges.
“If we had any evidence that this was a hate crime and we could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, we would not hesitate to charge it as a hate crime. I am happy to have the prosecutor handling this case reach out to the family for an in-person meeting.”