Man Who Went On Anti-Muslim Tirade At A New York City Eatery Is Charged With Hate Crime

A disturbing incident at the Salt & Pepper Indian/Pakistani restaurant in New York City has left employees and customers shaken. Robert Murino, 26, is being charged with a hate crime after he ordered a pizza and fries and then went on an anti-Muslim tirade, both emotionally and physically assaulting several of the restaurant's employees. Murino was arrested soon thereafter and charged with criminal mischief and attempted aggravated assault as a hate crime.

Police responded to the incident last week after receiving a call about an unruly customer. "How do you feel about ISIS," he said in his rant, according to court documents. All in all, he slapped one restaurant employee, reached across a table to punch another, threw a chair through the restaurant's glass partitions, and went on an angry tirade about the restaurant's employees and their supposed religion.

"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,'" one employee, Lina Parvin, told The Daily News. "'Why don't you tell me your religion?' he kept saying, 'I don't know, I don't know!' The guy then starts yelling, 'Muslim mother f——!'"

Parvin explained that she has been too frightened since the incident to return to work.