Detroit man slits throat of 7-year-old Muslim girl

Authorities in Detroit are being urged to further investigate a knife attack on a young Arab, Muslim-American girl as a hate crime.

Last Tuesday, a 73-year-old man slit a 7-year-old girl’s throat while she was at Ryan Park with her grandmother. 

According to reports, Gary Lansky went up to Saida Mashrah with a knife, lifted her head up, and slashed her throat. 

This was before she managed to escape by kicking him and rushing home to her mother.

Lansky was taken into custody that same day and later charged with assault with intent to murder and felonious assault.

Police say Lansky may have been suffering from mental illness, with his wife making the same assertion, causing them to dismiss the possibility of the attack being a hate crime. 

Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Maria Miller reiterated on Friday that the office “has no evidence of a hate crime in the case,” without elaborating further.

However, the girl’s mother Amirah Sharhan stressed the potential of it being a targeted attack due to the girl’s Muslim and Yemeni heritage.

Others in Detroit and Michigan have called for further investigation. 

Dawud Walid is Executive Director of the Michigan branch of the Council on American Islamic Relations’ or CAIR. 

He is urging Detroit police and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office to conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine whether hate was a motivating factor.

Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib urged the same in a statement on X.

She said the “constant dehumanization of Arab and Muslim people is resulting in hate crimes across our country.”

The attack comes amid a significant rise in targeted and discriminatory attacks on Muslims in the U.S. since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza over a year ago.