Chicago-area man charged with hate crimes over threats to Muslim men

WHEATON, Illinois — A suburban Chicago man has been charged with two hate crimes for allegedly verbally abusing and threatening to shoot two Muslim men, a prosecutor say.

Larry York, 46, of Lombard, was denied pretrial release during a court hearing Thursday, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin says.

York confronted the victims and cursed at them Tuesday night at an apartment complex, where one of the victims had gone to meet a friend, Berlin says.

While one man was seated in his car waiting for his friend, York initially approached him and asked the victim what he was doing there and began swearing at him and telling him he didn’t belong in this country and to leave, Berlin says.

York punched the man’s car window and walked to the lobby of the building, where the second victim was leaving an elevator. York began swearing at the second man and threatened to beat him, Berlin says.

A short time later, while one of the men sat on a bench outside the building, York again approached the men and twice lifted the opposite end of the bench, causing the seated man to fall to the ground, the prosecutor says.

York also allegedly told the men that he called four of his friends to come over and shoot the two men.

The violence occurred amid heightened fears that the war between Israel and Hamas is sparking violence in the United States.

The confrontation came three days after authorities say a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy was stabbed 26 times by his landlord in suburban Chicago.

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