Nov. 7 (UPI) — A 47-year old Florida man has been arrested and charged with a hate crime for pulling off a local U.S. Postal worker’s hijab and attacking her last month.
The victim, who has not been identified in court documents, was walking up to a house to deliver the mail dressed in a USPS uniform, a court affidavit says, when Kenneth Jerome Pinkney of Wilton Manors rode by on a bicycle, ripped off her hijab, made a shooting gesture with his arm and hand and called her derogatory names.
He then told her to “go back to her country,” and the victim nervously tried to laugh it off, according to police records.
After ripping off the victim’s hijab, Pinkney began to slap and punch her in the face, scratching her and causing her to bleed from the mouth, the affidavit said. When she tried to get back into her USPS truck, Pinkney grabbed her leg.
She freed herself, tearing his shirt. When Pinkney persisted, the victim warned Pinkney that she was going to call the police, but he allegedly told her he was going to do the same, although it was unclear what reason he would have to call authorities.
Pinkney was charged with battery as well as a hate crime based on the “(prejudicial) comments on the victim’s ancestry, religion and national origin,” according to the police report.
When Fort Lauderdale Police questioned Pinkney, the officer said Pinkiney was “unable to provide any details regarding the incident without losing track of his story,” the affidavit said. Pinkiney was arrested at his home in Wilton Manors.
The assault came two weeks after Israel declared war on Hamas after the massacre on Oct. 7. In the month since, the United States and the rest of the world have seen a surge in Islamophobic and antisemitic hate crimes and incidents, including the murder of a 6-year-old Palestinian boy in Chicago.
The Council on American Islamic Relations has reported 774 incidents of bias and related complaints in the Muslim community between Oct. 7 and Oct. 24, or a nearly 200% jump from last year, the largest spike since Dec. 2015 when Donald Trump, campaigning for president, called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States.
FBI director Christopher Wray says antisemitic incidents have recently risen to “historic” levels.
In Florida, officials say a group of minors rode by a synagogue in Parkland last Saturday and shouted threats at congregants.
Records show Pinkney, who was previously convicted of felony battery in 1996, remained in the North Broward Bureau jail.