PITTSBURGH- An Indian man was assaulted at the Red Robin Restaurant at the South Hills Village because he was thought to be Muslim.
Officers arrived at the scene where Ankur Mehta, the victim, directed them to the suspect, Jeffrey Burgess.
Police said the 54-year-old spoke incoherently and reeked of alcohol.
Mehta told police that he was sitting next to him at the bar.
Burgess allegedly began using racial and ethnic slurs, calling the victim a ‘sand n*gger.’
He told Mehta that “things are different now” and “I don’t want you sitting next to me. You people.”
“[He] launched an unprovoked attack on the victim as he was seated at the bar, beat him physically,” Bethel Park police Chief Timothy O’Connor said.
Onlookers told police that Burgess seized Mehta by the head and beat him. They added that Mehta was defenseless and unaware of Burgess’s looming attack.
Since Burgess thought his target was Muslim, the Council on American-Islamic Relations commented on the case.
“We believe this is just the latest incident in spike in anti-Muslim hate crimes since the November 8 elections,” CAIR wrote in a statement.
Mehta was sent to St. Clair Hospital. Burgess was arrested for ethnic terrorization, assault, public drunkenness and harassment.
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