Man Kicked J.F.K. Airport Worker Wearing Hijab, Prosecutor Says

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/nyregion/queens-ny-jfk-attack.html

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A Massachusetts man was charged with hate crimes after he threatened an airline worker at Kennedy International Airport who was wearing a head scarf, kicked her and told her “Trump is here now” and “he will get rid of all of you,” officials said on Thursday.

The man, Robin A. Rhodes, 57, of Worcester, Mass., arrived from Aruba on Wednesday night and was awaiting a connecting flight to Massachusetts when he approached the worker, Rabeeya Khan, in the Delta Air Lines Sky Club lounge at Terminal 2 between 7:10 p.m. and 9:45 p.m., the Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown, said in a statement on Thursday. Ms. Khan wore a head scarf known as a hijab.

Mr. Rhodes went to her office door and asked if she was sleeping and, according to the statement, said: “Are you praying? What are you doing?” He then punched the door, which hit the back of her chair. He threatened Ms. Khan and kicked her in the right leg, according to the statement. She moved to a corner of the office but he kicked the door, stepped into the office and blocked her from leaving.

When another person tried to calm him, he moved away from the door and Ms. Khan ran to the front desk of the lounge, according to the statement. Mr. Rhodes followed her, got on his knees and began to bow down in imitation of a Muslim praying and shouted expletives about Islam and ISIS, the prosecutor’s office said.

In an apparent reference to Muslims, he said, according to the prosecutor’s office: “You can ask Germany, Belgium and France about these kind of people. You will see what happens.”

Mr. Rhodes was waiting to be arraigned on Thursday night. He did not yet have a lawyer, and he could not be reached. He was charged with assault, unlawful imprisonment, menacing and harassment as hate crimes, and related charges. If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison.

The prosecutor’s office said Ms. Khan suffered “substantial pain” and redness in her right leg.

The prosecutor’s office said that when he was arrested, Mr. Rhodes told the police: “I guess I am going to jail for disorderly conduct. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman because their back was to me and they had something covering their head.”