MEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - A judge has decided a Melrose woman who allegedly told a Muslim city councilor to “go back to her country” and assaulted the councilor’s husband last year must take sensitivity training.
68-year-old Joan DiTomaso admitted she pushed the husband of City Councilor Maya Jamaleddine back in December. The attack itself was captured on cellphone video Jamaleddine’s husband took after he confronted DiTomaso for targeting his wife, who was wearing a Muslim headscarf.
“I did say ‘Go back to your country,’” DiTomaso said in court Tuesday.
DiTomaso was not charged with a hate crime. Instead, she was charged for allegedly assaulting Jamaleddine’s husband.
Jamaleddine’s husband was in court for DiTomaso’s arraignment in June.
While he was too distraught to come to court this week, his wife read his words to the judge.
“I couldn’t believe that this person hated us for how we looked and for our religion,” Jamaleddine read. “I felt angry and betrayed. I have lived here for most of my life and consider myself a total American.”
The judge determined DiTomaso could change by taking a class about the treatment of Muslims in the United States.
“I do think that Ms. DiTomaso is more than the worst thing she’s ever done in her life,” the judge said.
As for Jamaleddine, she said her family couldn’t suffer in silence and had to speak up and take this matter to court.
“I am just going to keep going,” Jamaleddine said. “What would happen on her end, this is something I can not guarantee for you. I don’t know. And I don’t trust.”
Jamaleddine said all she wanted in this case was an apology. After court proceedings Tuesday, she left the courthouse in Medford without one.
DiTomaso will have six months to complete the required course.
She has also been ordered to stay away from Jamaleddine and her family.
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