One month into the Israel-Gaza war, Ashish Prashar put on a kaffiyeh and took his 18-month-old son to a playground near their home in Brooklyn, where a woman he’d never seen before began yelling at him. As Prashar took out his phone and began filming, the woman continued to yell, threw her phone at him, and then threw a coffee cup holding a hot beverage. It was a chance encounter that led to spiraling repercussions: a police investigation, hate crime charges, an angry mob on the internet, a wrongly identified assailant, and a father left with questions about justice, mercy and what anger in such fraught times can turn into.

This story is part of our Deep Reads series, which showcases narrative journalism at The Washington Post. It was written and read by Ruby Cramer. Audio production and original composition by Bishop Sand.