Man Attacks Muslim Employee at JFK Airport

On Wednesday, a man was arrested at a New York City airport for allegedly shouting slurs and kicking a Muslim airline employee.

According to NBCNewYork.com, the man—identified as 57-year-old Robin A. Rhodes of Worcester, Massachusetts—arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport from Aruba and was waiting for his connecting flight back to Massachusetts.

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said Rhodes was waiting inside the Delta Sky Lounge at Terminal 2 when he approached a female employee wearing a hijab while working in her office.

Rhodes began making comments to the woman and allegedly punched her office door which struck her chair. When she asked Rhodes what she had done to make him angry, he said, “You did nothing, but I am going to kick your [expletive].”

Prosecutors said Rhodes then kicked the woman in the leg and blocked her path out of the office before another employee stepped in and allowed the woman to escape to the front desk.

Instead of stopping the physical and verbal assaults, Rhodes followed the woman and allegedly shouted, “[Expletive] Islam, [expletive] ISIS, Trump is here now. He will get rid of all of you. You can ask Germany, Belgium and France about these kinds of people. You will see what happens.”

Officials from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey New York City Police Department investigated the case and arrested Rhodes. He is being arraigned on hate crime, assault, harassment, unlawful imprisonment and menacing charges. He could face up to four years in prison if convicted.

Delta Air Lines said the female employee was a contractor, but “what happened in this incident is totally unacceptable and Delta has and will continue to fully cooperate with authorities in this investigation,” according to NBCNewYork.com.

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