20 October,2016 08:59 AM IST | | Agencies
A 37-year-old man, who ripped off a Muslim woman’s hijab on a flight while shouting “this is America!”, has been sentenced to a year of probation, including two months of home confinement
Washigton: A 37-year-old man, who ripped off a Muslim woman's hijab on a flight while shouting "this is America!", has been sentenced to a year of probation, including two months of home confinement. Gill Parker Payne was also fined $1,000 for the attack, according to a statement by the US Attorney's Office in the District of New Mexico.
"You hurt me, you disrespected me, you violated me," the victim, Khawla Abdel-Haq, was quoted as saying in court by the Albuquerque Journal.
"I was scared, and it shouldn't be like that," she said, adding that she did not leave her home for weeks out of fear after the in-flight attack last December.
In May, Payne had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour count of obstructing a person's free exercise of religious beliefs. He also apologised during the hearing.
"I'm embarrassed... 100 per cent embarrassed," he was quoted as saying.
