even if we accept the hypothesis that these two muslim girls that falsely claimed hate crimes were doing so because they feared repercussions for being caught without their hijab on, it still leaves open the question of why they would choose this particular approach of escalating to the police.

in the case of the younger one, it could have just been a web of lies that escalated uncontrollably, but, even so, consider the depth of fear required to actually get to a police investigation without cracking. at 11, you have to have some concept of what's happening when the police are involved.

in the case of the older one, though, i'm sure there could have been approaches taken that didn't rely on blaming it on racist white people. like, she could have said it got caught on a tree, or something. why state, specifically, that somebody threatened to light it on fire? you have to know that is going to escalate, if you're a university student, right?

i'm left to think that at least one of these cases may have been a cry for help. and it doesn't seem like anybody's heard it. sadly.

jagmeet singh must cut his beard.