Muslim mother and daughter say they were attacked for wearing hijabs

A Muslim-American mother and daughter visiting Dallas, Texas from Oklahoma say they were attacked for wearing hijabs.

Renee Ayesh recounted Sunday’s traumatic experience at The Reunion Tower with CBS DFW, telling the outlet that they were confronted by a woman who told the pair to go back to their country before getting aggressive and assaulting her daughter, Jenan.

“She’s telling me to go back to my country. ‘Lady I was born here. In the USA. Detroit, Michigan,'” Renee recalled she said in the beginning of the altercation that took place as she was exiting the landmark. 

Moments later, Jenan stepped in to defend her mother only to receive the same hostile response. “I told her that there was no reason to be so rude, and not to speak to my mom in that tone of voice, and she said ‘I speak in the way I want to. You don’t tell me how to speak.’ She then told me to go back to my country,” Jenan said. 

The conversation then took a turn and became focused on the hijabs that the two women were wearing. The attacker questioned if they were American because of the headscarves and reportedly told Jenna to “go back to India.” But, the confrontation escalated even further when the unnamed woman allegedly slapped Jenan.

“She hit me in the middle of the head. At this point my eyes, I couldn’t see anything. Everything was blurry,” Jenan told CBS DFW. “By this time, she had me by my scarf. She pulled it off. She started pulling my hair.”

Jenna ended up at the hospital where she was diagnosed with a concussion. According to the report, the family additionally alerted Dallas Police.

Representatives from the Reunion Tower did not respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. However, the women said that they weren’t look for revenge. But instead, they’re looking to educate people on the dangerous stereotypes linked with hijabs.