An Illinois woman is charged with hate crimes after allegedly attacking a man for wearing a Palestine hoodie at a suburban Chicago Panera Bread over the weekend.
Alexandra Szustakiewicz, 64, of Darien, Illinois, is charged with two felony counts of a hate crime and misdemeanor disorderly conduct, according to a Monday statement from DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and Downers Grove Chief of Police Michael DeVries.
In court on Monday, a judge granted prosecutors’ requests that Szustakiewicz have no contact with the victims and that she must stay away from the Panera Bread in Downer’s Grove where the incident occurred at about noon on Saturday, the statement said.
“Szustakiewicz was at the Panera Bread when she confronted and yelled expletives at a man regarding a sweatshirt he was wearing with the word Palestine written on it,” authorities said. “It is further alleged that Szustakiewicz attempted to hit a cell phone out of the hands of a woman who was with the man when the woman began videotaping the incident.”
Szustakiewicz was represented by the county’s public defender’s office in court on Monday. No one with the office was immediately reached for comment on her behalf.
Szustakiewicz allegedly committed a hate crime by “reason of perceived national origin” of the victims, the statement said.
“Every member of society, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or any other individual characteristic, deserves to be treated with respect and civility,” Berlin said. “This type of behavior and the accompanying prejudice have no place in a civilized society and my office stands ready to file the appropriate charges in such cases.”
In a video posted on Xwhich was confirmed by Downers Grove police as being genuine and connected to the charges against Szustakiewicz, a woman is seen lunging at someone holding a phone who is recording the incident, while a man tries to stop her. The woman takes at least one swipe at the man, and a drink she is holding spills to the ground when the man crushes her cup in an attempt to prevent her from getting at the person recording.
The woman threatens to call the police, and then is seen again trying to go after the person recording, while the man asks her to stop repeatedly.
The man is heard on the recording telling the woman, “Get away from my wife.”
The woman, according to the video, then goes up to the cash register and asks an employee to call the police.
The woman then walks toward the woman holding the camera, and the man steps in between them, and pushes the woman, and both the man and the woman threaten to punch each other, according to the video.
The video has garnered more than 1 million views.
Szustakiewicz and her relatives could not immediately be reached by NBC News for comment.
The Chicago Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, also known as CAIRsaid in a statement the incident began because one of the victims wore a Palestinian hoodie.
The male victim, identified as Waseem, by CAIR, said in the statement: “I’m a born and raised American who took his wife out for lunch. I was not able to do that simply because I was Palestinian.”
The organization said the female victim was pregnant and called the suspect’s alleged behavior “shameful” and “abusive.”
No one with Panera Bread was immediately reached for comment on Monday afternoon.