Two teenage girls charged with breaking Maine civil rights law in racist spray-painting incident

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Two 15-year-old girls from Bangor have been charged with violating Maine’s civil rights law for allegedly spray-painting racist slurs on the car of a Pakistani American and a person of color .

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey announced Friday that his office has filed a complaint in Penobscot County Superior Court in connection with an incident that occurred last month.

According to the complaint, a man was alerted by a neighbor around 10 p.m. on August 20 that his car had been vandalized. The man reported the incident to the Bangor Police Department, which investigated and identified the two girls as suspects later that night. They each received a subpoena for criminal mischief, a Class D misdemeanor, and were handed over to the parents.

One of the girls knew the victim and returned home a week later to verbally harass her, according to the complaint.

The Press Herald does not identify girls because they are minors.

This is unacceptable when we learn that an individual is facing threats of violence or property damage because of the color of their skin, Frey said in a statement. The blatant racist messages on the vehicle victimize not only the owner, but all people of color in the Bangor community and throughout the state.

The victim, Tahmoor Khan, posted about the incident on social media. He then told the Bangor Daily News that he hoped the writers could reflect on what they have done and use it as an opportunity to be better as individuals. Be better as human beings.

Under the Maine Civil Rights Act, the Attorney General can bring an action against anyone who uses physical force or violence, the threat of physical force or violence, property damage or the threat of harm. material against another person motivated by prejudice against the other person’s race. , color, religion, sex, ancestry, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation.

The lawsuit against the two teens seeks an order prohibiting them from contacting the victim and violating Maine’s civil rights law in the future.

Violation of an order would be a Class D felony punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a fine of $ 2,000.

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