3 Teen Girls Charged With Hate Crime After Attack On MBTA Train
BOSTON (AP) — Authorities in Massachusetts say three 15-year-old girls are facing hate crime charges after they allegedly assaulted a woman who they thought was an immigrant on a commuter train this month.
Suffolk County prosecutors say the Boston teens were all charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and a civil rights violation causing injury.
They have been arraigned and released to their parents.
Prosecutors say the 49-year-old victim boarded a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority train on Nov. 7. Authorities say the teens verbally harassed the victim, mocked her accent and one teen "repeatedly punched" and hit the woman with a cellphone when she tried to move seats.
The office says a witness reported the incident to transit police.
The teens are due back in court Nov. 30.