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A Massachusetts woman was sentenced Tuesday to six months probation after a racist attack on a Melrose city councilor late last year.
Joan DiTomaso, 68, was charged with assault and battery following the altercation with City Councilor Maya Jamaleddine at a Melrose gas station in December.
Prosecutors say the encounter began when DiTomaso verbally assaulted Jamaleddine, calling her a “terrorist Arab” and telling her “to go back to her country.”
When Jamalledine’s husband heard the commotion, DiTomaso pushed him twice, according to prosecutors.
DiTomaso’s attorney says she was just trying to take a video of Jamaleddine’s license plate, because Jamaleddine’s husband had just done the same thing to her car.
Jamaleddine says the encounter has haunted her family every day, including her kids, who witnessed the incident.
“I hope one day, we’ll be able to overcome this,” said Jamaleddine after Tuesday’s court hearing. “Although I doubt it.”
In court, DiTomaso admitted to facts sufficient for a finding of guilt, admitting she shoved Jamaleddine’s husband.
She also acknowledged saying “go back to your country,” but she was not charged for anything she said during the incident.
The woman is accused of assault and battery in connection with the confrontation with a Muslim city councilor last winter – but not of a hate crime
“I hope she learns a lesson that I have the right to be in this country as much as she does, and both of us are able to live together,” said Jamaleddine.
The judge sentenced DiTomaso to six months probation, and she’ll have to take an online course on the treatment of Muslims.
The Massachusetts Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations says the number of calls the organization has received about harassment and hate crimes was up 33% last year.
“I belong here, and no one can tell where to be,” said Jamaleddine.
She says all she ever wanted was an apology from the defendant, something she says she never received.
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