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A drunk man attacked an ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman and her adult daughter at a subway station in Queens earlier this week, thinking they were Muslim, according to the New York Daily News.
The suspect, 40-year-old Dimitrious Zias, accosted the two Jewish women on Wednesday at around 2pm, yelling at them: "Get out of my country, you dirty Muslim!"
While the mother, 57, and daughter, 37, were making their way out of the Rego Park station, Zias came up behind them and allegedly called the mother, who tried to wave him along, a "dirty Muslim."
When the daughter tried to come to her mother's defense, Zias allegedly punched the mother and struck the daughter.
The daughter told the New York Daily News the suspect likely mistook them for Muslims because her mother wears a headscarf.
"I never expected it would happen in this neighborhood," the daughter said.
Police arrested the suspect at the scene and charged him with assault as a hate crime.
According to the New York Daily News, there has been a rise of 33 percent in hate crimes in the city, with 280 incidents compared to 211 the previous year.