How did it all happen?
An 11-year-old girl was thrust into the spotlight last week after alleging a man had cut her hijab. The story spread around the world. Now, police say there was no attack.
Why did the girl wind up facing the media hours after allegation? TDSB says it was family’s choice
Days after an11-year-old girl alleged that a man cut her hijab, twice, Toronto police have concluded that the events “did not happen.”
In a statement released Monday, the police, who had been investigating the alleged incident involving the Grade 6 student at Pauline Johnson Junior Public School as a hate crime, said the investigation is now concluded.
But why, less than four hours after the initial police report, did the Toronto District School Board let the tearful 11-yearold girl — with her mother, grandmother, 10-year-old brother and Shari Schwartz-Maltz, TDSB manager for media relations and issues management, standing close by — face television cameras and throngs of reporters who broadcast and tweeted her extraordinary story to national, and international, attention?
Even if the attack had happened, the appearance would have been unusual, as victims of crime under the age of 18 are traditionally not identified by police or the media, let alone put before cameras.
The Star has chosen not to name the girl.
Schwartz-Maltz did not respond to the Star’s questions on Monday.
Speaking to the Star on behalf of the TDSB, Ryan Bird, manager of corporate and social media relations, said the girl and her family were concerned Friday about being approached by media on their way out of the school. The family were also worried that the attacker was still at large, he said.
The family was asked by SchwartzMaltz if they wanted to “join her when she spoke to media,” Bird said. “It (was) completely their decision.”
Bird said he could not comment on the conversation between SchwartzMaltz and the girl’s family, and said he was unable to say whether the family understood what a news conference would entail.
“We are very thankful that this assault did not in fact happen,” Bird said. “Our motivation for commenting on the issue at the time was only out of compassion, care, concern and support — as did many elected leaders nationally, provincially and locally via interviews or social media.”
At the time, Toronto Police spokesperson Const. Jenifferjit Sidhu said allowing the child to speak to the media might aid the police investigation. She said she had no involvement in the decision to allow the girl to share her story publicly.
“That’s up to the family if they feel (comfortable) to speak to the media.”
Sidhu said Friday she was shocked by the allegations, calling it “an isolated incident” such that she has nev- er seen in her 20 years of service.
The Star has not been able to reach the girl’s family for comment.
The media storm started at 9:33 a.m., Friday, when Toronto Police tweeted an initial report of an assault at the school involving a man cutting off a student’s hijab.
At 10.52 a.m., Toronto Police tweeted again: There were now two victims and “another person attacked.” Police wrote that they were searching the area for a suspect who was “Asian, 20’s, medium build, 5’8-6’0, black hair; Moustache, glasses, black hoodie, black pants.”
Ten minutes later, Toronto Police put out another tweet, this time with a correction: “There is only 1 victim; She was attacked twice by the same man 10 minutes apart.”
When it came to relaying this information about the unfolding investigation, both Toronto Police and the TDSB say they did not organize a press conference — but said both organizations made spokespeople available to the media at the school.
The Toronto Police director of communications, Mark Pugash, said Sidhu was there to answer questions about “our side of things,” and that the preliminary investigation had already been completed by the time she arrived on scene.
“These were extremely serious allegations,” Pugash said. “Investigators worked on Friday and over the weekend gathering evidence, including video and interviews, when they had it all they sat down, looked at what they had, analyzed it, tested it, and the only conclusion that they could come to was that the events as described on Friday did not happen.”
Pugash said he would not speculate as to why the girl made her allegations, adding that the investigation was concluded and he would not “anticipate anything further coming from this.”
“This received quite rightly, given the nature of the allegations, international coverage,” Pugash said. “And we wanted to make sure, having reached the conclusion that we did, that we got that information out as soon as possible to try and allay as many of the concerns that we could.”
Political leaders and community members were quick to react to news that the police had found the attack had not occurred.
“I’m kind of glad that it’s not actually something that actually happened, but then on the other side, I mean, we all really wanted to know why she reported this,” said Titus Gho, a parent picking up his child at the school Monday afternoon. He expressed concern that hate crimes could now be considered “fake.”
“When you are speaking about allegations like this, you’re talking about Islamophobia and you’re talking about racism and things like that, there are a lot of emotions that are attached to it,” Gho said.
At Queen’s Park, Premier Kathleen Wynne, who had vehemently denounced the attack on Friday, expressed relief that it had never happened.
“I’d like to thank the Toronto Police Service for their work in this matter, and I join all Ontarians in being thankful and relieved that this assault did not take place,” Wynne said in a statement.
Mayor John Tory agreed, saying: “It is good to know that this event didn’t happen.”
“We all must remain vigilant in the fight against hate, racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia to make sure our city remains an inclusive place,” he wrote in a tweet.
“While we are relieved that this child was not a victim of a hate crime, the false nature of the claim is unsettling,” said Ihsaan Gardee, executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, in a statement.
The false allegation “may also affect persons who are in fact targeted by Islamophobic and hateful acts,” Gardee said.
So how did the 11-year-old’s false story become national, front-page news?
“If the police reported it, the media should report it,” said John Miller, professor emeritus at Ryerson University’s journalism program. “It implies that they’ve done a certain amount of investigation. Obviously, the followup by both the police and the media was not as successful.”
Miller said that because the girl’s story was “a well-shared social media item,” there was a pressure to report.
“An 11-year-old girl is believed when she says something happened to her,” he said. “Obviously, there’s some perils in that. We don’t know why she claimed that happened, or somebody claimed it on her behalf.”