FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A 47-year-old man is facing a hate crime charge after Fort Lauderdale police say he attacked a postal worker and ripped off her hijab.
The attack was reported Oct. 24 and charges have since been upgraded for Kenneth Jerome Pinkney, of Wilton Manors, who is now charged with battery/second or subsequent offence and committing a second-degree felony with prejudice.
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According to his arrest report, the victim, who was in a USPS uniform, was walking up to a home to deliver mail when Pinkney “rode his bicycle past her and made his hand into the shape of a firearm, and made a shooting gesture.”
Police said the victim became nervous as Pinkney started calling her derogatory names and telling her to go back to her country.
According to the report, the woman tried to laugh off the comments, but Pinkney then approached her, ripped off her hijab and began to slap and punch her in the face.
The attack caused the victim to bleed from her mouth and sustain scratches on her face, authorities said.
Police said Pinkney also tried to grab the woman’s leg as she tried to get back into the USPS truck, at which time the victim ripped his shirt in order to free herself.
According to the report, the woman told Pinkney she was going to call the police and he told her he would be calling the police, as well.
Police said Pinkney was taken into custody that same day in front of his apartment in Wilton Manors.
According to the report, Pinkney was unable to provide details about the incident to officers “without losing track of his story.”
Records show Pinkney was previously convicted of felony battery in 1996.
As of Tuesday, he was being held at the North Broward Bureau on a $20,000 bond.
The Florida Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL), released a statement Wednesday, saying they “welcomed the hate crime charges” brought against the suspect.
“This alleged violence and hate have absolutely no place in Florida,” CAIR-Florida Media and Outreach Director Wilfredo Amr Ruiz said. “We will make sure to follow up on this and any other case to ensure they are prosecuted to the fullest extent to deter others from engaging in this criminal anti-social behavior targeting anyone, regardless of their race or religion.”