Man arrested for allegedly attacking hijab-wearing JFK employee

Jan. 27 (UPI) — Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said a Massachusetts man was charged with hate crimes for allegedly berating and kicking a Muslim worker at John F. Kennedy International Airport while saying President Donald Trump will “get rid of all of you.”

Robin A. Rhodes, 57, of Worchester, faces charges of assault, aggravated harassment, unlawful imprisonment, menacing and harassment — all as hate crimes — for attacking Delta employee Rabeeya Khan, who wears a hijab, at JFK’s Delta Sky Lounge Wednesday night, Brown said in a statement on Thursday.

Brown said the incident — in which Rhodes allegedly made reference to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, Daesh and ISIL — started when Rhodes walked up to Khan, who was sitting in her office.

“Are you [expletive] sleeping? Are you praying? What are you doing?” he allegedly asked her.

Rhodes is then accused of punching the door, which hit the back of Khan’s chair, and when Khan asked Rhodes what she did to him, Rhodes said “You did nothing but I am going to kick your [expletive].”

Rhodes then kicked Khan in the right leg and she attempted to escape by moving into a corner office, Brown said. Rhodes then allegedly kicked the door open, stepped into the office and prevented Khan from leaving.

When someone attempted to calm down Rhodes, he moved away from the door and Khan ran out of the office and to the front desk of the lounge, Brown said.

“It is alleged, however, that Rhodes followed her and got down on his knees and began
to bow down in imitation of a Muslim praying and 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 kind of people. You will see what happens,” Brown said in a statement.

The charges said “Khan suffered substantial pain and redness in her right leg and was placed in fear of physical injury, annoyance and alarm” due to the alleged incident.

When he was arrested, Rhodes allegedly told 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.”