Post by Mike on May 17, 2011 13:43:39 GMT -7
Saudi Woman Faces Hate Crime Charges for Walmart Spitting Incident
PALM BAY, Fla. -- A Saudi Arabian woman faced possible hate crime charges Tuesday for allegedly spitting at a Florida Walmart employee, Florida Today reported.
Nuha Mohammed Al-Doaifi, 21, told police she lashed out because, "Americans are pushing us around."
Al-Doaifi was apparently angered when an employee approached her Sunday afternoon to tell her she was using the incorrect entrance to the retailer in Palm Bay, Fla., 40 miles south of Cape Canaveral.
"She just spit all over me. All I was trying to do was tell her she was coming in through the out door. She was just ramming [her cart] into the door," recalled employee Terry Rakowski.
Al-Doaifi, who was wearing a pink burqa and religious head covering, quickly pushed her way into the store and spat on several other customers, police said. She was accompanied by her 2-year-old son.
"Her actions were directed at random people based on their ethnicity, and that's according to her own statement," said police spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez.
It was not the first time her temper flared. Officials at the Florida Institution of Technology told the paper she once spat at a professor.
"They have initiated procedures to have her sent back to Saudi Arabia," Martinez said.
Al-Doaifi remained jailed on a $6,000 bond. She could face felony charges if the hate crime designation stands.
PALM BAY, Fla. -- A Saudi Arabian woman faced possible hate crime charges Tuesday for allegedly spitting at a Florida Walmart employee, Florida Today reported.
Nuha Mohammed Al-Doaifi, 21, told police she lashed out because, "Americans are pushing us around."
Al-Doaifi was apparently angered when an employee approached her Sunday afternoon to tell her she was using the incorrect entrance to the retailer in Palm Bay, Fla., 40 miles south of Cape Canaveral.
"She just spit all over me. All I was trying to do was tell her she was coming in through the out door. She was just ramming [her cart] into the door," recalled employee Terry Rakowski.
Al-Doaifi, who was wearing a pink burqa and religious head covering, quickly pushed her way into the store and spat on several other customers, police said. She was accompanied by her 2-year-old son.
"Her actions were directed at random people based on their ethnicity, and that's according to her own statement," said police spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez.
It was not the first time her temper flared. Officials at the Florida Institution of Technology told the paper she once spat at a professor.
"They have initiated procedures to have her sent back to Saudi Arabia," Martinez said.
Al-Doaifi remained jailed on a $6,000 bond. She could face felony charges if the hate crime designation stands.