Campus Prayer at Univ. of South Florida interrupted by harassers; felony hate crime charges filed against two men

essentialsaltes said:

2 of 3 men who disrupted Muslim prayer at USF identified, police file hate crime charges​

Police said they filed hate crime charges against Christopher Svochak, 40, of Waco, Texas, and Richard Penskoski, 49, of Canyon, Oklahoma. Both have known local addresses in the Tampa Bay area, but no affiliation with USF, according to officials.

Police filed charges against Svochak and Penskosk under Florida State Statute 871.071 for disturbing schools and religious assemblies — which will be upgraded to a felony hate crime. They also filed charges for disorderly conduct and disrupting a school or lawful assembly.

The two men, and the unidentified third suspect, are associated with “the official street preachers.” In a statement, they said they were exercising their constitutional right to preach and speak against Islam.

Cell phone video captured the moment the three men confronted the group of students. The Muslim Students Association at USF said the men shouted slurs at them, waved bacon, and mocked their sacred rituals.

In one clip, a man could be heard saying, “You guys don’t have any bombs on you do you.” Another clip showed one of the men saying, “Spit on Muhammed’s name, he is a scum bag, just like all you Muslim terrorist.” It all lasted about 13 minutes.

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essentialsaltes said:

2 of 3 men who disrupted Muslim prayer at USF identified, police file hate crime charges​

Police said they filed hate crime charges against Christopher Svochak, 40, of Waco, Texas, and Richard Penskoski, 49, of Canyon, Oklahoma. Both have known local addresses in the Tampa Bay area, but no affiliation with USF, according to officials.

Police filed charges against Svochak and Penskosk under Florida State Statute 871.071 for disturbing schools and religious assemblies — which will be upgraded to a felony hate crime. They also filed charges for disorderly conduct and disrupting a school or lawful assembly.

The two men, and the unidentified third suspect, are associated with “the official street preachers.” In a statement, they said they were exercising their constitutional right to preach and speak against Islam.

Cell phone video captured the moment the three men confronted the group of students. The Muslim Students Association at USF said the men shouted slurs at them, waved bacon, and mocked their sacred rituals.

In one clip, a man could be heard saying, “You guys don’t have any bombs on you do you.” Another clip showed one of the men saying, “Spit on Muhammed’s name, he is a scum bag, just like all you Muslim terrorist.” It all lasted about 13 minutes.

Click to expand...

Landon Caeli said:

From the article:
"Abu Tahir, a student and prayer leader, said the encounter was deeply traumatic. “I had to relive the whole thing again,” he said. “Hearing every voice, every insult, every atrocious claim that they had made against our religion"

Awe, that's so sad. Thing is, as a Catholic, I get to hear my own friends and coworkers rag about my religion my entire life. Anyone see me weeping about it? No. You get over it and move on. It's called being humble.

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iluvatar5150 said:

Oh, is that what this is? Humility?

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essentialsaltes said:

Do they interrupt your religious services to do so?

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• 1989 St. Patrick's Cathedral Incident: Members of the AIDS advocacy groups ACT UP and WHAM disrupted a Sunday Mass led by Cardinal John O'Connor in New York City, resulting in 111 arrests.
• 2015 Las Vegas Incidents: A group of protesters, identified as ex-Muslims turned Christians, disrupted services at multiple Catholic churches across the Las Vegas valley, shouting messages against the Catholic faith and distributing literature.
• March 2024: Protesters disrupted the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, holding a banner and chanting "Free Palestine," leading to their arrest by police, says NBC New York.
• January 2021: Pro-choice activists disrupted a pro-life Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral in Columbus, Ohio, holding signs that said "Fund abortion not cops" before being removed.
• August 2021: A group protested outside a Catholic church in Edmonton, leading to a physical confrontation with parishioners who blocked their entry.

Landon Caeli said:

Apparently if you want to burn your own copy of the Koran outdoors, people of that "faith" have the right to steal the book away from you. That happened earlier this week too.

No theft charges even considered.

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