Whew is this a weird story. This 11-year old refugee boy is facing criminal charges for harassing a Muslim girl, but his family is Muslim too. And, on top of it all, his father bought a plane ticket to send him back to Sierra Leone.
From Gothamist:.
11-year-old Osman Daramy, a Staten Island sixth-grader who faces felony hate crime charges for assaulting a Muslim classmate, appeared in Family Court yesterday in the Bronx. Previously, the Post ran a sad photo of Daramy getting marched out of school in handcuffs and ankle shackles, and today the tabloid follows up with a photo of Daramy defiantly flipping off the tabloid’s photographer. We realize Daramy—who was born in a refugee camp Sierra Leone—has his problems, but we’ve got to give the kid credit for giving the Post the salute it deserves.
At Daramy’s arraignment yesterday, Judge Helene Sacco ordered the boy held without bail until his next court appearance Tuesday, because of concerns he could commit another crime. Assistant District Attorney Teresa Wilson told the judge that Daramy is “a public safety risk,” adding, “It was not one incident. It was a continued course of behavior.” Daramy had allegedly been harassing his victim for some time now, and prosecutors say he was joined by a 13-year-old female accomplice two months ago when he punched and kicked the Muslim girl and tried to rip off her hijab outside Dreyfus Intermediate School.
On Wednesday, Daramy allegedly approached the girl saying, “Aren’t you the Muslim girl we beat up? We’ll beat you up again.” He then shoved her to the ground, punched her, and again tried to rip off the hijab, prosecutors say. Though Daramy was defiant for the cameras outside court, once inside he was reduced to tears, as was his father, Frank Davis, who points out he and his wife are Muslim. “How could a Muslim have another hate crime against a Muslim?” he asked yesterday, adding that he has bought a plane ticket and intends to send Daramy back to Sierra Leone.
Don’t ask me how he can send him back to Sierra Leone when he is facing felony hate crime charges in our legal system.
Go back to the original post at Gothamist for links to such things as the “finger” photo.
One more reminder—get your kids out of public schools!
A depressing story all around. Daramy faces up to 18 months in a juvenile facility if convicted of assault and harassment as hate crimes, and the Post has dubbed him “Staten Island’s No. 1 problem child.” His school, Dreyfus Intermediate, is also known as a problem school, and yesterday local merchants staged a small rally outside, calling for a “full evaluation of the school and faculty” by the DOE to address the impact on the surrounding community. And one parent told the Staten Island Advance, “It’s hell. There is no safety in there from the teachers or the guards.”