Can we just get to New Year’s already? Haven’t we all been through enough? Do we really need more things to add to this burning existential angst of a reality? Apparently we do, because a 64-year-old woman went ham on a Palestinian man and his pregnant wife at a Panera. ‘Tis the season indeed.
The incident happened in Downers Grove, a Chicago suburb, on Nov. 16 around noon, per the Chicago Sun Times. The woman in question is Alexandra Szustakiewicz. She allegedly started cursing at the man and his pregnant wife and got physical with them. The event was captured on video by the man’s wife, and widely shared on social media.
In the minute long video, a man blocks a punch from Szustakiewicz and asks her what she’s doing. He tells her to stop and she spills her drink all over the floor of the restaurant trying to get at him. He then throws the cup at her, and it bounces off like a tennis ball on asphalt. This angers Szustakiewicz even more, and she goes back on the attack.
“Now I’m gonna call the police,” she says. Then she swipes at the pregnant woman again. She tells the counter to call the cops and then tries to get at the couple a few more times. This does not end well for her.
Police arrested Szustakiewicz at her home on Sunday. She was charged with two felony hate crime counts and one count of disorderly conduct. In a statement, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said: “This type of behavior and the accompanying prejudice have no place in a civilized society and my office stands ready to file the appropriate charges in such cases.”
The official wording of the incident report said that she “committed a hate crime by reason of perceived national origin” of the couple. “Every member of society, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or any other individual characteristic, deserves to be treated with respect and civility,” Berlin said.
Tensions have been especially high during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. People of perceived Palestinian descent have been increasingly targeted since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel.
In November of that year, three Palestinian college students in Vermont were shot while taking a walk. The students wore Palestinian scarves called Keffiyehs. A 48-year-old man named Jason J. Eaton was charged with three counts of attempted murder.
In October, a 6-year-old was fatally stabbed 26 times in an area just outside of Chicago by his landlord. The landlord, Joseph M. Czuba, 71, targeted the boy and his mom because “them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”
Earlier this year, a Palestinian American man was stabbed in Austin, Texas. 23-year-old Zacharia Doar had just gone to a cease-fire rally near the University of Texas campus when a man on a bike yelled racial slurs at them, tried to rip a Palestine flag from their truck and then stabbed Doar in the chest.
As for Szustakiewicz, she spent the night in jail and was granted a pre-trial release in a court appearance on Nov. 18. As conditions of that release, she must have no contact with the victims and she’s not allowed in that Panera Bread anymore. Her next court appearance is an arraignment, scheduled for Dec. 16.
