A Tommy Robinson supporter spat in the face of a 4-year-old Muslim child as she queued with her mother at a branch of the high street bakery chain Greggs in the West Midlands.
The incident occurred on October 29 at around 13:12 GMT.
A family member reached out to Tell MAMA and agreed to have the incident reported anonymously, adding that they were targeted for abuse by the same man due to their hijab.
She described how a man approached the mother and daughter as they queued in Greggs and spat in the child’s face and began to chant ‘Tommy Robinson’ at the young girl. The mother described hearing a spitting noise but was unaware of what had just happened until she turned around and observed the ‘sheer hatred’ in his expression.
The family member believes that the man targeted them due to their ethnicity and because the child’s mother also wears the hijab.
After leaving the branch of Greggs, she spotted the same man leaving an adjacent store and observed how the man had made an obscene gesture at her with his fingers.
The family have reported the incident to West Midlands Police but have expressed concern that the call handler and the responding officer ‘did not know’ who Tommy Robinson was.
Tell MAMA has long documented the disproportionate abuse and violence directed at Muslim women who wear Islamic clothing, by perpetrators often identified as being white males.
The attack, however, is even more shocking, given that an adult male felt emboldened enough to not only attack a child but also to intimidate the family by invoking the name of Mr Robinson in such a public setting without challenge.
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