Mother, daughter say they were ‘brutally assaulted’ for speaking Spanish near Boston subway station

BOSTON (AP/WHDH) — Civil rights groups are asking police to pursue hate crime charges against two people accused of attacking a woman and her daughter who were speaking Spanish in a strongly Latino neighborhood in Boston.

Lawyers for Civil Rights and other Boston-based groups said Monday that the woman, whom they’ve identified only as Ms. Vasquez, and her 15-year-old daughter were “brutally assaulted” by two white women near Maverick Square station in East Boston on Feb. 15.

They say the mother and daughter were punched, kicked and bitten and required medical attention for their injuries, which they say are still visible.

“I’m having nightmares. I’m afraid to take the train to work, and my family is afraid to speak Spanish in public,” Vasquez said in a statement provided by the organization. “My daughter is still wearing a neck brace, and she’s having trouble sleeping. We are all very shaken.”

A department spokesman confirmed no arrests have been made but the incident remains under investigation by the department’s Civil Rights Unit.

Lawyers for Civil Rights also provided a video of the evening attack, which the group says was unprovoked, as well as a redacted police report.

The video shows a woman crossing the street and shouting at another woman before throwing punches. The other woman punches back, and other people jump into the fray before Boston police arrive.

The two women accused in the assault told officers they approached Vasquez and her daughter because they believed the two were making fun of them, according to the police report, which the department also provided.

Civil rights groups said “acts of racism and xenophobia” are increasingly common in East Boston, a heavily Latino neighborhood that has struggled with MS-13 gang violence in recent years but is also seeing a demographic change amid a building boom that includes new high end housing developments.

“Many immigrant residents feel the hostile atmosphere,” said Luz Zambrano, of the Center for Cooperative Development and Solidarity, an East Boston group concerned about the neighborhood’s gentrification. “Our well-being and safety are at risk. We need more support from law enforcement officials.”

The groups say police also need to improve their process for identifying and responding to hate crimes.

They say the department didn’t follow up with or formally interview the Vasquez family until local organizations and the Boston prosecutor’s office became involved.

“Immediate and meaningful investigations of hate crimes are critical to deter further threats and violence,” said Patricia Montes, head of Centro Presente, a Latino advocacy group based in East Boston. “We are not second-class citizens. We deserve protection and respect.”

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