A mom and her teenage daughter were “brutally attacked” for speaking Spanish on a street corner in Boston, their legal team alleges .
Ms. Vasquez and her 15-year-old girl were beaten by two white assailants, according to a statement from Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston.
In a video of the incident shared by the advocacy group, Vasquez and her daughter are seen being approached by one of the white female suspects.
The woman, who was reportedly yelling “this is America” and telling the pair to “speak English,” then hits Vasquez.
Who hits back at the woman before a fight involving several people ensues.
The Boston Police Department (BPD) soon arrived at the scene and broke up the fight.
BPD spokesman Sergeant Detective John Boyle told the Boston Globe that no arrests have been made.
And the incident is actively being investigated as a potential hate crime.
A police report obtained by the Globe reveals that the two white women involved in the scuffle .
Admitted to police they had been “drinking and acting belligerent” in the moments leading to the fight.
The women, however, told police they believed Vasquez and her daughter had been “making fun of them” in Spanish.
Causing the pair to engage in a “verbal argument” with them, which escalated after one of the Vasquezs’ allegedly threw the first punch.
Two eyewitnesses refuted the women’s story, however, telling police the inebriated two were the ones to initiate the fight.
Janelle Dempsey, an attorney with Lawyers for Civil Rights, said the incident was “not an isolated event” .
Adding that “acts of racism and xenophobia are alarmingly common in East Boston”