CHICAGO: A suburban Chicago man, Larry York aged 46, has been charged with two hate crimes for allegedly verbally abusing and threatening to shoot two Muslim men, as said by a prosecutor.
He was denied pretrial release during a court hearing on Thursday, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said.
According to Berlin, the confrontation occurred at an apartment complex. One of the victims had gone there to meet a friend. While one of the men was sitting in his car waiting for his friend, York approached him, cursed at him, and told him he didn’t belong in the country, asking him to leave.
York also punched the man’s car window. He then walked to the building’s lobby, where he encountered the second victim leaving an elevator. He swore at the second man and threatened to beat him.
Later on, while one of the men was sitting on a bench outside the building, York lifted the opposite end of the bench twice, causing the seated man to fall to the ground. He also allegedly told the men that he had called four of his friends to come over and shoot them.
This incident occurred during a period of heightened tension, possibly related to concerns about violence in the United States due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The incident came shortly after a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy was stabbed 26 times by his landlord in suburban Chicago. Similar incidents, such as the spreading of anti-Jewish rhetoric in California and vandalism at a local synagogue in Fresno, have raised concerns.
Larry York was arrested at a Lombard bar, and his attorney argued that he was intoxicated at the time, believed the victims were trying to enter the building illegally, and suggested that the victims might have instigated the conflict.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin emphasized that hate crimes have no place in a civilized society and expressed extreme concern about the allegations against Mr York.
