EXCLUSIVE: 'I thought they were going to kill my daughter': NY mom-of-three reveals why she's risking seven-year sentence at trial rather than taking a plea for mowing down 50 BLM protesters when they mobbed her car
- She claimed she feared the protesters were going to pull her daughter out of the car, and hit the gas, slamming into a group of 50 Black Lives Matter protesters and injuring nine last December
- Casillo has since been branded as a racist, her family says, a narrative that she denies, claiming she doesn't even know the races of the people she hit
- She has since been getting death threats, her family claims, and had to have a police presence outside her Howard Beach, Queens home for a week afterwards
A white
New York City mother said she feared for her daughter's life as a group of protesters started attacking her car and decided to hit the gas, eventually plowing into a group of activists last year.
Kathleen Casillo, 53, a retired FedEx worker of over 20 years, faces seven years in prison after turning down a six-day community service and one year license suspension plea deal on Wednesday, for the collision in which nine activists were injured.
Casillo, of Howard Beach, Queens, had been going Christmas shopping with her then 29-year-old daughter, Dominique, on December 11, 2020, when she says a group of protesters started banging on her car and breaking her daughter's window at the intersection of 39th Street and Third Avenue.
Damage to the 2019 black BMW sedan is clearly visible in photos from the incident.
She said she turned down the plea deal because she did not do anything wrong, saying: 'I'm going to court to clear my name because I'm not guilty.'
'I feel sick,' she continued, noting: 'I never intended on hurting anyone. I just feared for my daughter's life more than anybody. I thought they were going to pull her out of the car.
Cops have been forced to guard Casillo's home over death threats sent to her and her family, her daughter Dominique said.
NYC mother of three 'feared for daughter's life' when she plowed into protesters last year | Daily Mail Online