This woman could never live in my city. She'd be the minority.

Some with racist hate crimes.

She flew over there to be with my elder daughter who needed some major surgery. They never speak English to each other when they are together, never have.

Reminds me of 2003. A friend of mine had been the Canadian ambassador to the USA under Bill Clinton. He was from Québec, so naturally they spoke French. His son was visiting Washington in late 2003, and was talking on his cell phone to a friend--in French, of course. Some "patriot" heard him speaking French and spit on him, calling him "Frenchie (supposed to be a curse word in Republicanese)."

friends on the phone in English and to companions in English. We never encountered any problems, but if not speaking English in the US I would be uncomfortable. That is what some areas of this country have become, not all, but some.

But she's white so the racists leave her alone.

I would have spoken to my kids in Russian, too, but for two things--they had no one else to speak it to, and my wife would have been pissed if I taught it to them, because then we could talk in front of her in a language she didn't understand. I figured it was best to keep them bilingual in languages we both understood, and not pre-program family feuds.

The younger one understands French pretty well, too (and a little Hawaiian). She spent a semester of college at the Sorbonne in Paris. Her college sent me some from I had to fill out for the semester, and one of the questions I had to answer was "do you agree that your daughter has the necessary maturity to spend a whole semester in Europe?" I replied that if she had the necessary maturity to be born and grow up in Europe, that she probably possessed the necessary maturity to come home for a semester. At least the university apologized for not paying attention to where she was from before sending out their questionnaire.

I'm not at all surprised that racists live there.

The racist slur is derived from the common nickname for raccoon. In the Midwest, where raccoons are common, a lot of place names actually refer to the furry little fellows.

The name derives from the "Coon Creek Rapids" where a dam was built in the early 1900s.

US will just become areas most never go to unless necessary. It has become such a divided country and some areas often seem filled with hatred toward many things. I lived once in a place that bordered on that and I left. Many states seem to have pockets of this.

Why wasn't they speaking Amurican? I have a right to eavesdrop in my own language!

Why I hear that in the colonies they haven't spoken English for years -- H.Higgins (prof)

Sad as it is, it'd be amusing in a sick way, if an Englishman was attacked for speaking furrin

as being worse than it is, I just don't understand.

Self loathing?

A need to feel superior to every one else around them?

Judging most Americans by a racist in some small town is ridiculous.

And from my experience traveling, this is NOT what the world thinks of America.

Or should I pull a story from Germany or France and proclaim the majority of those countries violent, racist jerks as well.

Ignorant, perhaps quasi-literate, stupid and mean.

She was able to read and talk and feed herself and everything.

It's named for Coon Creek, a tiny tributary of the Mississippi, which flows through the town.

some asshole decided to use it as a racist slur, and it stuck?

Practically speaking, probably yes. Every place with "Coon" in its name, probably SHOULD change it to avoid future assumptions that the place is "racist" or named by "racists". Because the trend is for people to have less and less of a clue about nature to start with, and even the relatively literate will forget where "coon" came from if they aren't even sure what a raccoon is, or never even heard of one.

Sad world we live in.

(That said, what I know about Anoka County, I'm not completely shocked that something like this happened. Part of that is Michele Bachmann's old district.)

assholes that are angry about someone else getting an abortion or gay marriage or someone else's religion or lack of
Really none of your fucking business lady. I do not believe the two women were trying to engage her in the conversation. These kind of people are seeking out groups to hate
Really that is how much they love to hate and are addicted to it.
Yet I bet she is all about free dumb in the USA

...during meal conversations after she is convicted of assault with a deadly weapon!

Peace

Yikes

I fucking hate the suburbs.

This is what happens when you drink too much of that Grainbelt barley-water.

I remember once encountering an old geezer who told me he lived in Coon Rapids/Ramsey. Leaning in and and speaking softly, he confided with a smile, "I like livin' there, 'cause, y'know, they don't got the n----rs there."

There are some crazy Republicans there.

This woman smashed a glass mug across another person's face. That is an extreme level of violence.

I do think that the hateful rhetoric against immigrants and minorities is sending some unstable people over the cliff. Thanks to the Republicans they vote into office, there's no safety net for them either.

I think attempted murder on this one due to the glass being so thick and weighted. This is not a typical glass from our homes. They are extremely dangerous.

of Asma's obvious beauty (but I'm sure the 'not speaking English/being Muslim' was enough for Jodie.)

Shes very youthful and beautiful - when racists don't bash her face with beer mugs.

That is serious. Hope this scum is locked away for a long time.

Scum.

And I am sure there will be a civil suit for damages. I hope she gets nailed good. This is inexcusable behavior.

they serve beer in Applebees?
Man, it's been a long time since I gave restaurants my money.

They've always served beer.

Altho, thinking on it, Applebees in Mobile or the other 3 big cities here ) Big-250,000 people, lol)
probably do carry booze.
Some counties in the state are "dry" and some are "wet".
And of the wet ones, some only allow beer and wine in the stores, not in restaurants, and no hard stuff.

My county here went "wet" in 2004, the losers of the vote ( it was VERY close) are still pissed about it.

In most places in America, restaurants with a license can serve alcohol. Applebees started in the Atlanta suburbs, by the way, as a bar and grill. Serving beer.

It would be tough to make attempted murder stick, but I'm reasonably sure they can nail her on the assault charge. There needs to be jail time for this (and probably alcohol treatment as well).

Has had much impact on her.

To keep law-abiding citizens safe from such violence.

Make an example of her!

?

What kind of a miserable, sad, twisted life do you have to live to get upset at someone speaking in a foreign language?

They're all on a mission to keep "M'erika" "M'erikan!"

Scary thing...there are legions of her!

Fuels the ignorant

both had big pots of strong black coffee. With Annisette.

were the fresh Bohemian donuts around the kitchen table at the farm down the road in Wisconsin. Had to go to the kitchen door and carry a stick so the goose wouldn't chase you.

Never had anything to match.

because it was spent driving around to everyones house having some blood sausage or deer sausage, or some Bohemie, Danish, Norwegian treat and a beer or schnapps, brandy, home made fruit wine and then going on to someone else's house. Everyone stayed a little lit all fall, but never drunk (it was considered bad form to get past a little lit).

Good times. There's a lot of good to be said about the mid-west and simple hospitality!

A two year old could go see his friends and get donuts, even with a war going on. But, I pitched a fit when I couldn't go in my favorite candy shop because they didn't have the proper bond sticker on the window.

I never really forgave her. That was in 43.

i would be worse than Carson.

I would not want to stir up skeletons.

People shouldn't tar Minnesota or the suburbs due to what this racist nutjob did. We are mostly much better people than that.

Does the article have her age and/or picture correct?

bigotry go unanswered. The media and DWS are treating Trump's words like they are just outrageous, laughable moments instead of hate speech. DWS decision to draw attention to the GOP debates while refusing to add Dem debates or scheduling them all on weekends/holidays shows she doesn't get it.

Just using translator so I hope it's right but I thought the thread needed some Swahili.

I can't even imagine such idiocy.

Ignorant woman!!! I think that the real reason she hit her is because the victim appears to be Muslim.

An Anoka County prosecutor said Friday that authorities are looking into possible hate-crime counts against a woman charged with attacking a diner at the Coon Rapids Applebee’s because she was speaking Swahili.

The victim suffered deep cuts to her face when she was struck with a beer mug Oct. 30 as she ate lunch with her husband and friends, Anoka County authorities said this week.

http://www.startribune.com/cair-calls-for-hate-crime-charges-in-attack-on-diner-at-coon-rapids-applebee-s/341788292/

I hope that Burchard-Risch enjoys her stay in jail.