A Connecticut judge dismissed hate crime charges against a white woman who was accused of spitting on an African-American woman during 2021 protests at the state’s Capitol.
Instead of making her face criminal penalties, the court granted the woman an opportunity to settle the case via probation through a special program, according to The Associated Press.
The announcement of the case’s dispensation was made in court on Friday, July 21, in front of the victim.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Yuliya Gilshteyn went to Hartford to protest mandatory childhood vaccinations and COVID-19 masking requirements. Power Up Manchester founder Keren Prescott was there marching with other Black Lives Matter activists on a day that saw demonstrations over multiple issues at the Capitol.
As Prescott and her fellow demonstrators chanted “Black Lives Matter,” Gilshteyn interrupted them saying, “All lives matter” and “Black lives don’t matter.”
At one point, according to video evidence of the encounter, an unmasked Gilshteyn got close to Prescott with her rebuttals and when asked to move back, spat in her face.
Gilshteyn faced deprivation of rights charges stemming from the incident, the same day as the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, where she spat on a Black woman. The charge was classified as a hate crime before the court.
Her lawyer, Ioannis Kaloidis said while her client was in the wrong, the act was not rooted in racism, calling it a response in “a heated environment.”
The woman initially faced a breach of peace charge, but after a review of the case by Hartford State’s Attorney Sharmese Walcott, the charges were elevated to encompass a hate crime and additional offenses.
According to court records, these additional charges included third-degree attempt to commit assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, and risk of injury to a child.
After her case was presented in July 2021, she was accepted into a special probation…
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