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Man Charged With Ethnic Intimidation In Attack On Muslim Woman

MASON, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - A 29-year-old man has been charged with ethnic intimidation in connection to an attack on a Muslim woman.

Jonathan Deuel, who was arrested Wednesday, was also arraigned on a misdemeanor assault and battery charge when he appeared in an Ingham County courtroom Thursday.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said the incident happened around 12:30 p.m. July 19 when the 26-year-old woman was walking with her 5-year-old daughter in a shopping mall parking lot in Meridian Township.

A council spokesperson said the suspects, two men and a woman, attempted to pull the victim's dress and face veil off before knocking her down and shouting obscenities at her. CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid said the woman was hospitalized for 36 hours after the attack for chest pain and numbness in her left arm.

Meridian Township Police Lt. Greg Frenger said the investigation hasn't shown anyone else should be charged, although he declined to discuss Deuel's role in the incident.

Walid told the Lansing State Journal he's glad someone was charged, but is slightly disappointed because "there are two other people who were reportedly involved with the incident."

Deuel is in the Ingham County Jail on $25,000 bond. He's due back in court on Aug. 21 for a preliminary hearing.

Ethnic intimidation is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.  Assault and battery is a misdemeanor.

MORE: Group Says Attack On Muslim Woman At Michigan Mall Is A Hate Crime

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