۱ اردیبهشت ۱۴۰۳ |۱۱ شوال ۱۴۴۵ | Apr 20, 2024
Portland man who threatened Hijabi Muslim must pay in an unconventional way

A Portland area man who yelled at a pregnant Muslim woman to remove her hijab and then pretended to shoot her and her husband by mimicking a gun with his fingers must pay a $1,653 fine and have a meaningful discussion with Portland's Muslim community, a judge ordered.

Hawzah News Agency (oregon, US) –  Multnomah County Circuit Judge Benjamin Souede last week approved the unconventional plea deal for defendant Fredrick Nolan Sorrell, 50.

Sorrell’s fine will go toward making amends for a separate hate crime: The money will reimburse a community member who paid for a video surveillance system at the Abu-Bakar Islamic Center in Northeast Portland. The center installed a security system after someone spray-painted the word “ISIS” on the building last Sept. 10.

The judge last Friday also sentenced Sorrell to anger management classes, 100 hours of community service and three years of probation.

If Sorrell fails to abide by the terms of probation, he faces a 45-day jail sentence and must pay another $2,000 to the Abu-Bakar Islamic Center.

Sorrell’s discussion with the Muslim community will be organized by the Oregon chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Brent Weisberg, a spokesman for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.

During an April plea hearing, Sorrell apologized to the couple he targeted and later said they didn't deserve his hateful rant. He  had spotted them driving alongside him in Northeast Portland on May 29, 2017.

Sorrell pleaded no contest to two counts of second-degree intimidation, which are misdemeanors under state law.

According to the couple, the wife was wearing a hijab when Sorrell pulled his van next to the couple’s car and yelled “Take the (expletive) burka off!” and “Go back to your own (expletive) country!” The husband and wife also told investigators that Sorrell yelled “Terrorists!” at them.

They said Sorrell swerved his van toward their car, and at a stoplight at Northeast 102nd and Glisan Avenue, mimicked shooting a gun at them. The couple was deeply shaken, but not physically hurt.

Sorrell, a Gresham resident, will pay off his fine with a $50 per month payment plan.

 

End.

Comment

You are replying to: .