A Muslim woman says she was the target of another woman’s hateful tirade in Bethesda, Maryland, Thursday afternoon.
The victim, who was wearing a hijab, said she was in her car at a stop light at Rockledge Drive and Democracy Boulevard when she heard a slur and saw a woman flashing her the middle finger.
The victim said the encounter escalated when she began recording it on her phone. The other woman stood in front of the car — banging on the hood — then walked to the passenger side and pounded on the window with her hand several times.
“It took me a few seconds to process what had just happened, and then I decided to honk my horn at her, and she turned back around and started yelling at me, ‘Do you want to get out of your car? Do you want to come here? Do you want to get out of your car?’” the victim said.
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She said it lasted for about a minute or two and was witnessed by other drivers stopped at the traffic light.
“I was just so shaken that I didn’t think to follow her at that point,” the victim said. “I just wanted to get my baby safe. My biggest fear was, you know, she might do something to me with my child in the car. So, I was just in a rush to get her home safe.”
Montgomery County police are investigating the incident but have classified it as a disturbance, not a hate crime.
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The Maryland chapter of the Council on American and Islamic Relations recently put out a press release detailing a rise in hate bias incidents since the attack on Israel earlier this month.
“The reports CAIR has recorded only strengthen our resolve to empower one another, uphold justice and defend civil liberties,” CAIR said in a statement.
Thursday’s victim said her phone and its camera are her first line of defense.
“We are in a defensive, protective mode right now,” she said. “Any second something is going to happen to us.”
She said she always has that thought.
“That is how I go through life,” she said.
She said she has received an overwhelming outpouring of support since posting the video on the Nextdoor app.
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