In a shocking incident being described a hate crime, Triceten Bickford, a 19-year-old Indiana University student has been charged with assaulting a Muslim woman.
Court documents state that the woman was sitting at a table with her 9-year-old daughter when Bickford emerged from a nearby alley shouting "white power," anti-black racial slurs and "kill the police," reports the Indy Star.
Bickford then "grabbed the woman by the neck and forced her head forward as he tried to remove her headscarf," court documents said. The incident happened at a Turkish cafe in Bloomington, approximately 50 miles southwest of Indianapolis.
Bickford was reportedly restrained by the woman's husband and an onlooker, whose faces Bickford spit on. Bickford then allegedly threatening to kill them and police officers. After being taken into custody, Bickford tried to kick out the windows of a patrol car and bit an officer on the calf.
"The FBI will collect all available facts and evidence and ensure the investigation is conducted in a fair, thorough and impartial manner. We will conduct the investigation as expeditiously as possible," said FBI Special Agent Wendy Osborne, according to the Associated Press.
Bickford's lawyers say that the former student has "no memory" of the attack, claiming that he was drunk, and intoxication, mixed with anti-anxiety medication, caused him to lose control, reports the Examiner.
Bickford has been expelled from the Indiana University as a direct result of the attack, said IU spokesman Mark Land, according to the Indy Star.
