Six girls ranging between the ages of 11 and 14 allegedly assaulted a woman at Union Station in Washington, D.C., resulting in their arrests.
Metropolitan Police Department authorities learned of the incident on Wednesday as video of the assault circulated on social media, depicting the group of girls “repeatedly punching and kicking” a woman as she “walked outside of Union Station,” per a news release from the agency.
“One of the suspects recorded the assault and encouraged the other suspects to continue their attack,” the release added.
The girls allegedly attacked other pedestrians who tried to intervene, but none of those victims were severely injured.
Detectives arrested an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old on Thursday in relation to the crime.
Both face charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to riot, simple assault, and disorderly conduct.
Four more girls, who were between the ages of 11 and 14, were arrested on Friday.
Those girls face charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and rioting.
The investigation revealed that all six girls were potentially motivated by “hate or bias,” meaning they will each face charges of assault with a deadly weapon, along with hate crime enhancements.
Chief of Police Pamela Smith commended the detectives for “quickly identifying and apprehending these individuals so our criminal justice system can hold them accountable.”
“I hope the swiftness of these arrests, and the consequences these young people will soon face, deters activity like this from occurring again,” she added.
“We need to continue instilling values in our youngest residents that steer them toward success and away from criminal behavior.”
The incident involved as many as nine suspects, according to a report from WJLA-TV in Washington.
The outlet observed that the Union Station assault was part of a larger pattern of juvenile crimes in the nation’s capital.
Another high-profile juvenile crime involved a robbery during which two minor suspects stole a man’s Canada Goose jacket on a Green Line train traveling between Congress Heights and Anacostia.
The two juvenile suspects were then arrested in Maryland over additional crimes.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser voiced frustration about the trend on Friday, especially since many juvenile suspects are able to avoid prosecution through diversion programs which purportedly help to rehabilitate them, per WJLA.
“We have a good arrest, we make a good case. They have to be charged and put in the system,” she said.
“And I’ve said repeatedly, that doesn’t mean a diversion, that doesn’t mean an unaccountable supervision program. That means we need them in the system.”
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