Kentucky man arrested, charged with hate crime for threats to Palestinian-American

Washington (Quds News Network)- A man in Kentucky was arrested and charged with federal hate crime and firearms offenses for threatening a Palestinian-American man with a loaded gun in March.
According to the indictment that was unsealed on Monday, on or about March 28, 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 as O.S. in the indictment, 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 the U.S. Department of Justice.
The indictment also includes a weapons charge, saying that the defendant brandished a firearm during the offense.
If convicted, Litteral could face a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The firearms charge comes with an additional mandatory minimum penalty of seven years in prison, which would run consecutively with the possible hate crime conviction. A federal district court judge would determine sentencing.
After Litteral’s arrest was announced, The Council on American Islamic Relations advocacy group released a statement, saying they welcomed the indictment.
“We welcome the hate crime charge in this case and thank federal law enforcement authorities for their swift and professional actions to apprehend a suspect,” said CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell.
“No American should be targeted by hatred or violence because of their religion, ethnicity or national origin. Our country has been consumed by a wildfire of anti-Palestinian racism and anti-Muslim bigotry spread by those who seek to justify the genocide in Gaza by dehumanizing Palestinians and Muslims. It must stop.”