A Rhode Island man could face hate crime charges for flying into a drunken rage and threatening to kill a Muslim store clerk.
Thomas Giese was arrested by South Kingstown Police and charged with disorderly conduct for the anti-Muslim tirade in which he targeted a convenience store clerk on Christmas Eve. And South Kingstown Police Captain Joel Ewing-Chow said hate crime charges may also be added:
“The [hate crime] statute is used as a penalty enhancement for the original charges.”
According to the arrest report, Giese consumed “approximately 10 drinks” before he entered the Ravi Food Mart, and encountered the Muslim store clerk. Giese said he acted the way he did because he was thinking of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center. The report also states:
“This upset him. Because he allegedly had friends who worked there.”
Security camera video shows Giese railing at the clerk and saying:
“I’ll f*cking kill you people. On Christmas Eve!
“If you call the cops. What I’m going to do to you, is stretch your tongue out on you, f*ckin Muslim. You pieces of sh*t are going to die on my hand.
“We don’t want Muslim stores in our neighborhood. No Muslim stores in our neighborhood!”
Giese, however, is now claiming that he started berating the Muslim clerk because the clerk was “bad mouthing Christmas.” The video, on the other hand, shows no such thing.
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, believes charging Giese with a hate crime would:
“Send a very strong message to that tiny minority of bigots out there who are thinking about these kinds of things, that they shouldn’t do it, that they’re not going to get away with it.”
Watch A Report On This Disturbing Incident
Featured Image Via Screenshot From WPRI
