‘Take it off! This is America!’: Man who yanked hijab pleads guilty to religious obstruction

[n2doc]

Near the end of his Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago to Albuquerque in December, Gill Parker Payne decided he had to take action.

Seated a few rows in front of him was a woman he had never met before. She was wearing a religious headscarf, known as a hijab, which Payne recognized as a Muslim practice. He stood up, walked down the aisle and stopped next to her seat. Looking down at the woman, Payne instructed her to remove the covering.

“Take it off! This is America!” Payne, 37, later recalled saying. When she didn’t do it herself, Payne did: He grabbed the hijab from the back and pulled it all off. Violated, the woman, identified by the Justice Department only as K.A., quickly pulled the hijab back over her head.

On Friday, as part of a plea deal with the federal government, Payne pleaded guilty to obstructing the woman’s exercise of her religious beliefs. “Because I forcibly removed K.A.’s hijab, I admit that the United States can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that I intentionally obstructed K.A.’s free exercise of her religious beliefs,” he said in a written statement in the plea agreement.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/05/14/take-it-off-this-is-america-man-who-yanked-hijab-pleads-guilty-to-religious-obstruction/

[Thinkingabout]

1. Though I would personally refuse to wear a hijab I still would not prevent

Another to practice their religion. Having religious freedoms is very important to me. Shame on this narrow minded person.

[pampango]

2. America - where you are free to wear what I tell you to wear. Who are you again?

Mr. Payne needs a lesson in what it means to be an American.

[jberryhill]

3. Good golly, that guy needs a looking at

[Wounded Bear]

4. Sounds like assault to me...

where was that charge? You can't just walk up to people and start tearing their clothes off, including hats, scarves, etc. Has to be at least second degree assault. Not to mention creating a violent confrontation on a plane flight.

Asshole got of easy if you ask me.

[gollygee]

5. +1

Just what I thought

[BuelahWitch]

7. Yep, he sure did

Rat bastard needs the book thrown at him

[jberryhill]

10. Those are the applicable federal charges

[Marr]

6. I've noticed a trend with stories like this.

There have been a collection of them over the years, and so far as I recall, they always, without exception, involve a person or group of people 'bravely standing up for their principles' against a person who has zero chance of physically harming them. Sometimes it's a grown man bullying a woman, sometimes it's a big group of assholes bullying one or two people... the dynamics are always a little different, but they're always essentially the same.

[MillennialDem]

8. Religious obstruction??

[jberryhill]

9. Yes, 18 USC 247. What is your question?

(a) Whoever, in any of the circumstances referred to in subsection (b) of this section—
(1) intentionally defaces, damages, or destroys any religious real property, because of the religious character of that property, or attempts to do so; or
(2) intentionally obstructs, by force or threat of force, any person in the enjoyment of that person’s free exercise of religious beliefs, or attempts to do so;
shall be punished as provided in subsection (d).
(b) The circumstances referred to in subsection (a) are that the offense is in or affects interstate or foreign commerce.
(c) Whoever intentionally defaces, damages, or destroys any religious real property because of the race, color, or ethnic characteristics of any individual associated with that religious property, or attempts to do so, shall be punished as provided in subsection (d).
(d) The punishment for a violation of subsection (a) of this section shall be—
(1) if death results from acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, a fine in accordance with this title and imprisonment for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death;
(2) if bodily injury results to any person, including any public safety officer performing duties as a direct or proximate result of conduct prohibited by this section, and the violation is by means of fire or an explosive, a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more that 40 years, or both;
(3) if bodily injury to any person, including any public safety officer performing duties as a direct or proximate result of conduct prohibited by this section, results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, a fine in accordance with this title and imprisonment for not more than 20 years, or both; and
(4) in any other case, a fine in accordance with this title and imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
(e) No prosecution of any offense described in this section shall be undertaken by the United States except upon the certification in writing of the Attorney General or his designee that in his judgment a prosecution by the United States is in the public interest and necessary to secure substantial justice.
(f) As used in this section, the term “religious real property” means any church, synagogue, mosque, religious cemetery, or other religious real property, including fixtures or religious objects contained within a place of religious worship.
(g) No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any noncapital offense under this section unless the indictment is found or the information is instituted not later than 7 years after the date on which the offense was committed.

[Warren DeMontague]

11. Put me down for "assault", too.

Seems like he got off easy.