A Muslim Delta Airlines employee was attacked at New York's JFK airport Wednesday, a prosecutor says, and the alleged attacker was arraigned Friday on hate crime charges.
According to The Associated Press, Robin Rhodes of Worcester, Massachusetts, was waiting for his connecting flight home from Aruba when he approached the office door of Delta employee Rabeeya Khan, who was wearing a hijab. Rhodes allegedly yelled profanity at Khan, asking her if she was praying or sleeping, then punched the office door, which hit the back of Khan’s chair.
When Khan asked what she did to Rhodes, he said, “You did nothing,” the AP reported. Rhodes then cursed at her and kicked her in the leg, the district attorney accused.
When someone else approached Rhodes to attempt to calm him, Khan ran out of the office, the AP said, but he followed her and mocked her by pretending to bow down in prayer, then shouted, "Trump is here now. He will get rid of all of you. You can ask Germany, Belgium and France about these kind of people. You see what happens."
Rhodes is charged with assault, unlawful imprisonment, menacing, and harassment under the hate law statute. It was unclear whether Rhodes yet had an attorney.
“The bigotry and hatred that the defendant is accused of manifesting and acting upon have no place in a civilixed society — especially in Queens County, the most culturally diverse county in the nation,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said, The Associated Press reported. “Crimes of hat will never be tolerated here and when they do, regrettably, occur, those responsible will be brought to justice.”
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