NBC: Illinois woman charged with hate crimes in alleged Panera Bread attack over man's Palestine hoodie
An Illinois woman is charged with hate crimes after, authorities alleged, she attacked a man for wearing a Palestine hoodie at a suburban Chicago Panera Bread over the weekend.
Alexandra Szustakiewicz, 64, of Darien, Illinois, is charged with two felony counts of a hate crime and misdemeanor disorderly conduct, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and Downers Grove Police Chief Michael DeVries said in a statement Monday.
In court Monday, a judge granted prosecutors' requests that Szustakiewicz have no contact with the victims and that she must stay away from the Panera Bread in Downers Grove where the incident occurred at about noon Saturday, the statement said.
“Szustakiewicz was at the Panera Bread when she confronted and yelled expletives at a man regarding a sweatshirt he was wearing with the word Palestine written on it,” authorities said. “It is further alleged that Szustakiewicz attempted to hit a cell phone out of the hands of a woman who was with the man when the woman began videotaping the incident.”
The county public defender’s office represented Szustakiewicz in court Monday. No one with the office could immediately be reached for comment on her behalf.
Alexandra Szustakiewicz.DuPage County
Szustakiewicz committed a hate crime by “reason of perceived national origin” of the victims, the statement alleged.
“Every member of society, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or any other individual characteristic, deserves to be treated with respect and civility,” Berlin said. “This type of behavior and the accompanying prejudice have no place in a civilized society and my office stands ready to file the appropriate charges in such cases."
In a video posted on X, which Downers Grove police confirmed as being genuine and connected to the charges against Szustakiewicz, a woman lunges at someone holding a phone who is recording the incident, while a man tries to stop her. The woman takes at least one swipe at the man, and a beverage she is holding spills to the ground when the man crushes her cup to prevent her from getting at the person recording.
The woman threatens to call the police and then again tries to go after the person recording, while the man asks her repeatedly to stop.
The man is heard on the recording telling the woman, “Get away from my wife.”
The woman, according to the video, then goes up to the cash register and asks an employee to call the police.
The woman then walks toward the woman holding the camera, and the man steps in between them and pushes the woman, and both the man and the woman threaten to punch each other, according to the video.
The video has gotten more than 1 million views.
Szustakiewicz and her relatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Chicago Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, also known as CAIR, said in a statement the incident began because one of the victims wore a Palestinian hoodie.
The male victim, whom CAIR identified as Waseem, said in the statement: “I’m a born and raised American who took his wife out for lunch. I was not able to do that simply because I was Palestinian.”
CAIR said the female victim was pregnant, and it called the behavior “shameful” and “abusive.”
No one with Panera Bread could immediately be reached for comment Monday afternoon.