ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor charge after authorities say he grabbed a Muslim woman’s hijab on a Southwest Airlines flight in December and pulled it off.
Federal authorities say 37-year-old Gill Parker Payne, of Gastonia, North Carolina, entered the plea Friday. He was charged with using force or threat of force to obstruct a Muslim woman in the free exercise of her religious beliefs.
The two were on a Dec. 11 flight from Chicago to Albuquerque when the confrontation happened.
Authorities say Payne approached the woman, who was sitting several rows in front of him, and told her to take off her hijab — an Islamic-style headscarf — saying, “This is America!” He then removed the hijab from her head.
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That is appalling. I would have expected a more serious charge. If a man walked up to an Anglo woman and removed a piece of clothing it would probably be considered sexual assault. (Or so I would hope.)
Again, this is why I didn’t give my son a middle name.
@docd - I don’t know about sexual assault, but it seems pretty clearly an assault.
ETA: and certainly a hate crime.
Lawyers?
What an asshole!
On one point, and only one point, parker was correct. “This is America”, you know, where we have religious freedom as stated in our Constitution… freedom to worship. Asshat with minimal understanding of the Constitution or American values
This is a federal charge. There is no general federal statute against assault, only for assaulting federal employees while engaged in or on account of their official duties. Assault is generally prosecuted by state authorities. This is probably about the only thing the feds could charge him with. For a state to prosecute, there would have to be a determination of which particular state has jurisdiction.