A Florida man was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for pulling a religious headscarf off a Muslim postal worker before saying "F--- Islam" and calling the woman a "terrorist."
Kenneth Pinkney, 47, received the punishment Friday after pleading guilty in April to assault on a federal employee with a hate crime enhancement for the unprovoked, Oct. 24 attack in Fort Lauderdale.
The incident unfolded after Pinkney glared at the unidentified woman as she delivered mail while wearing a headscarf called a hijab two weeks earlier, in the wake of the Hamas attack against Israel that sparked the latest Mideast war.
"Hate crimes represent vicious attacks on the very fabric of our diverse communities. No one should live in fear of being targeted because of their religious beliefs," First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Davis said.
In addition to his 37-month prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Roy Altman ordered Pinkney to serve three years of post-release supervision, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
