A Brooklyn woman was arraigned Wednesday on hate crime charges after police said she hit, yelled threats and racial epithets and threw a hot drink at a man and his 18-month-old son at a Brooklyn playground earlier this month. Hadasa Bozakkaravani did not enter a plea.
Oren Yaniv, a spokesman for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors asked Judge Dale Fong-Frederick to hold Bozakkaravani on $25,000 cash bail, but the judge released her. Her next court appearance is January 24, 2024.
Bozakkaravani, 48, turned herself in at a Brooklyn precinct on Tuesday morning after neighbors plastered the area with photos of her face, police officials said.
She was charged with six counts of assault and attempted assault, four counts of menacing, one count of endangering the welfare of a child, among others, according to a criminal court complaint issued on Tuesday.
“This is a massively overcharged case reflecting more what’s taking place politically in our city, nationally and internationally, and not what actually occurred,” Pierre Sussman, Bozakkaravani’s attorney, told Gothamist.
The incident leading up to Bozakkaravani’s arrest took place at Edmonds Playground in Fort Greene on the morning of Nov. 7.
Ashish Prashar, who was wearing a traditional Palestinian head scarf known as a keffiyeh around his neck, was watching his young son play with another boy in the basketball court when he said Bozakkaravani approached him asking if he supports Hamas.
“I was gobsmacked,” Prashar told Gothamist. “She didn’t care to ask if I was Palestinian or why I wear this scarf. She was violent from the outset.”
Prashar said she then called him and his son terrorists, called Arabs “dogs” and accused Arabs of “burning babies in ovens.” She added that she hoped the same would happen to Prashar’s son, he said.
That’s when he started filming the woman, who responded by throwing a hot drink at him — a video that quickly went viral after his friend posted it on social media.
According to the criminal complaint, Prashar told police Bozakkaravani approached him and slapped his arms and chest. He said she then accused him of supporting Hamas, called him a terrorist, said Hamas kills babies, and said his baby should die, according to the criminal complaint.
Prashar, 40, has lived in New York City for over nine years but was born in the United Kingdom and worked as an advisor to former Prime Minister Tony Blair. He says he is Punjabi — not Palestinian nor Arab. He learned of Bozakkaravani’s arrest from a Gothamist reporter.
Video footage taken by Prashar of the incident shows Bozakkaravani, 48, chucking her phone at Prashar, who quickly tucked his son behind him, he said. “He knew something was wrong,” Prashar said of the 18-month-old.
Bozakkaravani stopped yelling when a man approached the basketball court, Prashar said. The man insisted on walking Prashar and his son home safely. Prashar called the intervention “kismet,” and called the man a “beautiful soul.”
“I only believe she stopped because of that guy,” Prashar said.
Kenny said on Tuesday that Bozakkaravani was working as a nanny for a boy playing with Prashar’s baby in the park that day.
Prashar reported the incident to the NYPD. He says police told him they had a warrant for Bozakkaravani’s arrest last Tuesday but no one answered when they knocked on her door.
Prashar said he woke up to 6,000 messages of support on social media after his friend posted the video of the incident.
“I know there will be a day where I’ll have to explain this to [my son],” Prashar said. “I’ll tell him, ‘You are no less human than any other person, and the world is full of love.”
This story has been updated with arraignment information.
Correction: Due to incorrect information provided by the NYPD, an earlier version of this story included an incorrect spelling for Hadasa Bozakkaravani’s name. The spelling has been updated.
An earlier version of this story misstated Ashish Prashar’s title when he worked for Prime Minister Tony Blair. He was an advisor to Blair.
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