Minnesota Woman Assaulted For Not Speaking English


Minnesota Woman, Asma Jama, was assaulted at an Applebees for speaking in Swahili to her family.

In an interview with the local Fox station Jama said:

“I was sitting turned around like this and all of a sudden I feel something thrown on my face. Boom! My cousin started screaming and everyone wanted to run away.”

Another diner, 43 year old woman, Jodie Marie Burchard-Risch was so incensed by the fact that Jama was speaking Swahili that she felt obligated to verbally attack Jama. In this argument, the fact that Jama was entirely capable of speaking English was lost on Burchard-Risch. When asked to leave by the Applebees staff, Burchard-Risch immediately splashed her drink onto Jama and then smashed the glass beer mug against her face. Jama was hospitalized with several deep cuts and serious bruising on her face.

The injuries inflicted by Burchard-Risch run deeper than just the cuts on her face. The emotional toll the attack had on Jama is heartbreaking. Jama, a resident of Minnesota for more than a decade, was shaken by the experience and exppressed that:

“Emotionally it has destroyed me. I’ve lived in Minnesota for 15 years, never had anyone even look at me weird for not speaking English and wearing a Hijab. I’ve seen hate crimes on TV, but for it to happen to me — I’m really a different person, I don’t like it.”

 


WARNING – Some parts of video show graphics images of the injury to Jama.

 Featured image screen grab from video.