FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A 47-year-old man is facing a hate crime charge after Fort Lauderdale police say he attacked a postal worker and ripped off her hijab.
The attack was reported Oct. 24 and charges have since been upgraded for Kenneth Jerome Pinkney, of Wilton Manors, who is now charged with battery/second or subsequent offence and committing a second-degree felony with prejudice.
According to his arrest report, the victim, who was in a USPS uniform, was walking up to a home to deliver mail when Pinkney “rode his bicycle past her and made his hand into the shape of a firearm, and made a shooting gesture.”
Police said the victim became nervous as Pinkney started calling her derogatory names and telling her to go back to her country.
According to the report, the woman tried to laugh off the comments, but Pinkney then approached her, ripped off her hijab and began to slap and punch her in the face.