Boston Teens Charged With Hate Crimes For Alleged Attack On ‘Immigrant’

In this Thursday, June 18, 2015 photo, a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority train makes it's way along a curved portion of track, in Boston. Public transportation has long been hailed as a surefire remedy for... In this Thursday, June 18, 2015 photo, a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority train makes it's way along a curved portion of track, in Boston. Public transportation has long been hailed as a surefire remedy for traffic congestion, but many of the nation's largest mass transit systems are struggling. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) MORE LESS
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Three Boston teens have been arraigned on hate crime charges for allegedly harassing and assaulting a woman on a train who they believed was an immigrant, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said in a statement Thursday.

The alleged incident occurred last week, when the three 15-year-old girls allegedly harassed a 49-year-old woman and told her to “go back to [her] own country,” prosecutors said. When the woman attempted to leave her seat, the girls allegedly blocked her path and did not allow her to move. One girl punched and struck the woman in the face with a cell phone repeatedly, prosecutors said.

A witness finally pressed an emergency help button on the train and reported the incident. The teens accused in the attack were seen “celebrating” once they exited the train, according to Conley’s statement.

The trio have been charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and civil rights violation causing injury.

“The immigrant experience is encoded in our nation’s DNA,” Conley said in the statement. “We want to make sure that everyone feels safe and secure, no matter who they are, where they’re from, how they speak, or how they define their families. There’s no room for behavior like this – period.”

All three of the accused are due back in court on Nov. 30.

h/t Boston.com

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