A Kentucky man was arrested Monday and charged with federal hate crime and firearms offenses for allegedly threatening a Palestinian American man with a loaded gun at a Lexington restaurant earlier this year.
According to the indictment, Melvin P. Litteral III used force or the threat of force to intimidate and interfere with the victim – a Palestinian American man and practicing Muslim identified in the indictment by the initials O.S. – because of O.S.’s race, color, religion and/or national origin, and because O.S. was enjoying the goods, services and facilities of a local restaurant.
According to reports, it happened March 28, at a Cheddars restaurant. That is when the victim said Litteral began making racist comments. When O.S. followed Litteral to ask why he was making hateful comments, he allegedly pulled a gun and pointed it at O.S.
The incident was captured on video.
The indictment also includes a weapons charge, alleging that the defendant brandished a firearm during the incident.
If convicted of the hate crime offense, Litteral faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. If convicted of the firearms charge, Litteral faces a mandatory minimum penalty of seven years in prison, to run consecutively to any sentence imposed for the hate crime offense.
Source: WDRB
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