Woman Charged with Hate Crime After Assaulting Palestinian Couple in Viral Video

A 64-year-old Illinois woman from Chicago’s western suburbs has been charged with a hate crime after allegedly assaulting a Palestinian-American couple, an incident captured in a video that quickly went viral.

Authorities charged Alexandra Szustakiewicz with two felony counts of committing a hate crime and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.

According to police reports, Szustakiewicz confronted a man, shouting profanities over his sweatshirt, which displayed the word "Palestine." Authorities also stated that she attempted to knock a cell phone from the hands of the woman accompanying the man when she began recording the interaction."

According to the complaint filed against Szustakiewicz, she allegedly 'committed a hate crime because of the perceived national origin' of the victims," police said in a statement.

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Zahran showing the Palestine sweatshirt he wore when attacked

In the surveillance footage, Waseem Zahran stands between his wife and Szustakiewicz. "She kind of whispered or said quietly, 'F Palestine,'" Zahran recalled. "At first, I didn’t understand her because of her accent, so I smiled, thinking she was saying something nice. I asked, 'What was that?' She repeated it from a distance, then came closer to my face and kept saying it."

Although the video doesn’t capture the full incident, it shows Zahran restraining Szustakiewicz by holding her arms and pushing her back. Zahran explained that his pregnant wife began recording to protect him, while he tried to shield her from Szustakiewicz, who allegedly attacked them and threw a cup of coffee at them.

"It could have easily been made to look like I was the one attacking her," Zahran said. "When I saw she was about to throw hot coffee on my wife, I had to stop her. I grabbed the cup, but she kept trying to lift it. In the video, you can see me spilling it to prevent her from throwing it and hurting us. As I’m pouring it out, she tries to punch me and ends up hitting me on the side of my face." 

Szustakiewicz left the scene and was arrested the following day over hate crime charges. She was later released but is prohibited from returning to the Panera Bread where the incident occurred. Police confirmed that they reviewed footage from the restaurant’s security cameras as part of their investigation. 

Szustakiewicz is scheduled to appear in court on December 16. 

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"This type of behavior and the accompanying prejudice have no place in a civilized society, and my office stands ready to file the appropriate charges in this case," said DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin in a statement. 

Zahran said the supportive messages he has received outweigh the hateful ones. "I’m proud to be Palestinian. I love my country, America, and Palestine," he said. "Just be human. Have a heart. Just because people aren’t the same color, from the same country, or follow the same religion as you, it doesn’t mean you can’t empathize with them." 

This incident is part of a broader trend in Chicago, where displays of Palestinian identity have been targeted. A Palestinian-owned café on the North Side was vandalized twice for displaying a Palestinian flag in its window.