On behalf of an Arab American family whose then-7-year-old daughter was the victim of a throat-slashing attempt by a 74-year-old White man in a park in Detroit on October 8, 2024, attorney Nabih Ayad filed a civil lawsuit last week seeking $50 million in damages for the victim’s family.

The lawsuit states that the defendant, Gary Lansky (74), caused severe psychological trauma and serious neck wounds to the Yemeni-origin girl, Saida Mashrah, who was playing with other children in Ryan Park in the Warrendale area on Detroit’s west side, near the border with Dearborn.

According to the suit, Lansky approached Saida without any prior provocation, lifted her chin, slashed her throat with a pocket-knife he had on him before trying to stab her — though the brave child kicked him and drove him away.

No child should fear playing in a public park. — Nabih Ayad

Following the attack, Saida ran back to her home near the park, while Lansky turned toward her grandmother (who was wearing a hijab), then shortly thereafter fled the scene amid the screams of passers-by and others in the park.

Detroit Police arrested Lansky later that same day without resistance.

On Wednesday Saida — who continues her recovery — attended a press conference alongside her family, Ayad and representatives of the Arab American Civil Rights League (ACRL), which had previously called for the case to be treated as a hate crime.

During the press conference held at Ayad’s law office in Detroit, Saida said her sleep is still filled with nightmares, and that she feels afraid when strangers pass by her home, more than a year after the incident.

“Sometimes (at school) I feel scared and I have to take a break with the teacher,” she said.

Saida Mashrah stands next to her attorney and ACRL founder Nabih Ayad during Wednesday’s press conference. – Videograb

My daughter still smiles sometimes, but it’s not the same smile. It’s the smile that hides tears. — Saida’s mother

“My daughter still smiles sometimes, but it’s not the same smile,” Saida’s mother said in a statement read by attorney William Savage in Ayad’s office. “It’s the smile that hides tears. As a mother, the worst you can imagine is to see your child suffer and know there’s nothing you can do about it.”

The lawsuit addresses the emotional distress and trauma Saida and her mother have endured since the attack — for example, how she cries and screams at night from nightmares, how she is now fearful of strangers (especially older men) and how she is wary of being in public places (including school).

The legal action seeks to compel Lansky to pay damages to Saida and her family for the trauma, physical injury and permanent psychological harm resulting from the attack.

“We don’t know what assets (Lansky) may own, but I can assure you we intend to extract every last dollar he has,” Ayad said. “This person deserves to rot in hell and rot in prison.

We intend to extract every last dollar he has. This person deserves to rot in hell and rot in prison. — Nabih Ayad

“This incident will haunt her forever, and she will suffer psychological trauma,” he added. “She is currently receiving treatment and perhaps will remain so for the rest of her life.”

In addition to the civil lawsuit, Lansky is facing criminal charges of assault with intent to murder and felonious assault after a court at the beginning of this year found him competent to stand trial. His trial began on Friday, October 24 (with the issue of this publication).

Ayad and the ACRL had asked the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office to treat the attempted murder of Saida as a hate crime, but the prosecutor’s office said it did not have enough evidence to charge Lansky on that basis — especially since the man had attempted to stab his wife and sister several days before the incident and is facing a separate domestic violence case.

Ayad said he believes that Lansky targeted Saida specifically because of her ethnicity, pointing out she was the only Arab child in the park that day while the other children were Black. The prominent civil rights lawyer and ACRL founder added that Lansky also approached the victim’s grandmother (who was in the park with her) because she was wearing a hijab, making her a target of a hatred-based assault, in his words.

“No child should fear playing in a public park,” he said in a statement about the case. “This lawsuit is about justice and dignity and the right of Arab and Muslim families to live safely in public spaces.”

ACRL Chairman Nasser Beydoun, who also attended the press conference, stressed the need to hold perpetrators of hate crimes accountable as the only way to curb this growing phenomenon nationally.