Woman’s hate-crime charge may be dropped

The white resident spit on a Black protester

As Keren Prescott was leading a protest in support of Black Lives Matter outside the Connecticut Capitol, she found herself in an argument with a white woman who, Prescott said, told her that “all lives matter.”

Prescott, a Black activist, took offense to Yuliya Gilshteyn, of New Fairfield, — who had come to the state government’s swearing-in ceremony in Hartford to protest coronavirus vaccine mandates for children — as she began to inch closer.

“Back up,” Prescott recalled saying to Gilshteyn several times on Jan. 6. “You don’t have a mask on.”

Then, Gilshteyn, who was carrying a small child at the time, turned to her left and spat in Prescott’s face, hitting her glasses and mask, and retreated from the scene, according to a video of the incident.

Gilshteyn, 45, faces multiple charges from the encounter — including felony hate crime of intimidation due to bias. The spitting incident was denounced by the Hartford state’s attorney as “the most foul thing I have ever seen.”

But the hate-crime charge may not hold up after a judge granted Gilshteyn special probation this week. The Wednesday ruling from Hartford Superior Court calls for Gilshteyn to enter accelerated rehabilitation, a pretrial diversionary program for first-time offenders in Connecticut. She was also ordered to complete 100 hours of anti-hate curriculum in the next two years.

Hartford Superior Court Judge Sheila M. Prats ruled that the hate crime and all of Gilshteyn’s charges would be dismissed if she completes the special probation program.

Prescott, who turned 40 the day of the ruling, was left in tears over a decision she described to The Washington Post as “the epitome of white privilege.” Prescott and her attorney, Ken Krayeske, argued that a judge would not have accepted accelerated rehabilitation — given to offenders who the court believes “will probably not commit more crimes in the future” — if a Black woman had spat on a white woman.

“When she attacked me and the police didn’t believe me, that was white privilege. When the police held me back and she was led away, that was white privilege,” Prescott said outside the courtroom, according to The Hartford Courant. “The fact she was in here today and didn’t even get a slap on the wrist, that is white privilege.”

Prescott added, “What is she going to learn walking away from this unscathed?”

Ioannis Kaloidis, Gilshteyn’s attorney, told The Washington Post that while his client’s actions were “inappropriate” and “shocking,” the attack was motivated not by racism or hate but from stress regarding mask mandates and the coronavirus vaccine. Gilshteyn apologized to Prescott this week and said that spitting in the Black woman’s face was “completely out of character.”

“We don’t dispute that she shouldn’t have spit on her, but we dispute what caused it,” Kaloidis said. “To say my client is the epitome of white privilege is garbage.”

The ruling comes at a time when the state is exploring whether racism is a public health crisis for its residents. State lawmakers passed a bill last month declaring racism a public health crisis in Connecticut, and more than 20 municipalities have passed similar resolutions.

Hundreds of protesters in Hartford surrounded the state Capitol for competing, tense protests Jan. 6, the same day as the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Prescott, founder of Power Up Manchester, a nonprofit that aims to “amplify voices within marginalized communities,” told The Post that she and a friend were chanting “Black Lives Matter” throughout the day when they were allegedly accosted by Gilshteyn and anti-vaccine protesters.

“Once they started to recognize what we were saying, they started saying, ‘All lives matter,’ ” Prescott said. “As we kept chanting, this woman turns to us and says, ‘Black lives don’t matter! Look at black-on-black crime.’ ”

Black-on-black crime, a phrase that’s long been debunked, has been a talking point repeated by some conservatives against activists calling for police reform — the most notable example being former president Donald Trump. Kaloidis said Gilshteyn did not utter any comments considered to be “racially motivated.”