A white man was caught making racist remarks and assaulting a Muslim man who was walking in his neighborhood in a video that is making waves on social media.
Although the incident took place earlier this month, the video has only recently gone viral after CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), a Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organisation, shared the cell phone-recorded footage on YouTube.
On Sept. 5, Farrukh Abbas Hashmi, a Muslim resident of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, was walking through his apartment complex when an unleashed dog ran up to him and started barking and growling. Hashmi said the dog tried to attack him twice, leading him to ask his neighbor to put the dog on a leash.
When Hashmi confronted the dog's owner, the man "verbally abused him, threatened him with physical violence, hurled racial slurs and ultimately assaulted him," according to CAIR.
'F*ck You and Your F*cking Country'
The video starts off with the neighbor, identified as William Butler, telling Hashmi to go back to his country. "Go f*ck yourself dude," Butler says to Hashimi. "Go back to your country, you f*ck."
"He's not going to bite you," Butler then says to Hashmi and asks him to get the camera out of his face before asking him to return to his country repeatedly.
"I'm not going anywhere," Hashmi responds before urging Butler to put his canine on a leash.
"F*ck you and your country," Butler continues his racist tirade before calling Hashmi a "dothead," a racial slur used against South Asians. Butler then threatens to assault Hashmi before going through with his threat. According to Hashmi, the man then hit him with his fists.
Charges Filed Against Butler
Hashmi reported the incident to the local chapter of CAIR, which then reached out to the Upper Merion Township Police Department to file charges against Butler.
On Thursday, Butler was charged with harassment, disorderly conduct, ethnic intimidation and and violation of an ordinance that requires dog owners to leash their canines.
"This is our home. And how would it feel if someone asked you to get out of your home," Hashmi told WPVI-TV. "When you experience it yourself, you feel the gravity of the situation," he said. "How bad it feels."
"No one should have to endure the vicious attack Mr. Hashmi experienced from both animal and man. We are pleased that the Upper Merion Township Police Department took this matter seriously and elected to bring charges against the individual allegedly responsible for this heinous attack," CAIR-Philadelphia Civil Rights Attorney Timothy Welbeck said in a statement.
"We believe it is due to CAIR's involvement in this matter, as well as to Mr. Hashmi's bravery in recording his attacker, that has resulted in the swift charging of the individual allegedly responsible for the racist attack," he added.
