There have been so many of these incidents lately, it's hard to keep them straight. In New York, a man was arrested on hate crime charges for assaulting South Asian restaurant workers and throwing chairs into a glass partition after demanding to know if the employees were Muslim.
'Muslim motherf*cker': NY man launches glass-smashing attack on cafe staffers
The incident occurred last week at the Salt & Pepper restaurant in Herald Square, where 26-year-old Robert Murino ordered a slice of pizza then began questioning workers -- who hail from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh -- about their religion and opinions of ISIS, and called an employee a "Muslim motherfucker."
Part of the incident was caught on camera. Murino can be seen reaching across the counter and slapping an employee in the face. Later, he is seen picking up chairs and smashing them into glass partitions.
Witnesses say they initially thought Murino was drunk.
Lina Parvin, 35, who has worked at Salt & Pepper for two years, said Murino seemed under the influence when he came in.
"He came up to me and ordered a slice of pizza. He was swaying, I thought he was drunk. I gave him the pizza and we went to sit down," she said.
"Then he comes up to me yelling, 'Where are my fries? Where are my fries?' I told him I didn't charge him for fries but he kept yelling, 'You f------ lady, give me my fries. Lady, I'm going to f--- you up,’" she recounted.
Parvin said Murino then began cursing out two customers before turning on Tahir Mahood and shouting at him.
"He started yelling, 'Why don't you tell me your religion?' Mahood] kept saying, 'I don't know, I don't know!' The guy then starts yelling, 'Muslim mother f------!' He then reached over and punched him," she said.
After Murino fled the restaurant, he was spotted at a pizza shop down the block, and police made the arrest. He was charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime and attempted assault as a hate crime.
This feels like it's going to get a lot worse.
More here: EXCLUSIVE: Video shows customer hit worker, break glass in NYC restaurant as he rails against Muslims