Three men stormed a University of South Florida parking garage and harassed Muslim students during dawn prayer on Tuesday — an incident captured in videos that showed the group shouting slurs, waving bacon and crowding worshipers as they bowed, reports said.
Police identified the men as Christopher Svochak of Waco, Texas; Richard Penskoski of Canyon, Okla., and Ricardo Yepez of Tampa, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
All three face a felony count of disturbing schools and religious assemblies under Florida’s hate-crime enhancement statute, along with misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and disrupting a school or lawful assembly.
None have ties to the university, police said.
The charges followed a multi-day investigation sparked by footage showing the men approaching students during fajr prayer on the roof of the Collins Boulevard Parking Garage.
One man carried a cardboard box reading “Kaaba 2.0 Jesus is Lord,” while another wore a thobe emblazoned with “Jesus is God.”
Students said the group stood inches away as they prayed, shouted insults including “Bow down to lord Jesus Christ” and “Your prophet married a 6 year old,” and taunted them with bacon immediately after the prayer ended, according to a Reddit post.
Islamic dietary law prohibits consumption of pork or any pork-derived products such as bacon.
At one point, a man said, “You don’t have a bomb on you do you?”
A video uploaded to YouTube shows individuals who call themselves “Warriors for Christ,” approaching the student worshippers.
“They walked close to our heads while we entered the bowing position, so close that we genuinely had a fear that they were going to stomp on our heads,” student Abu Tahir said.
He added that they debated whether they should break the prayer, saying, “We had a thought in our head, do we break the prayer? Do we end the prayer to address whatever is going on?”
When the worshipers finished, Tahir said the men zoomed in their cameras on them and hurled more insults.
“We had no idea whether we were going to leave there safely,” he said.
Sajid Kahn, another student present, said the group “walked, created this mockery of our culture, of our religion, of our traditions.”
USFPD Chief Chris Daniel told WFLA-TV that the department acted immediately.
“We take this incident very seriously. Our department is committed to protecting every member of our community, and we will use every available resource to ensure accountability and maintain a safe environment for all,” he said.
Authorities told WFTS-TV that all three suspects were issued trespass warnings banning them from campus.
Detectives have filed the cases directly with the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office, with additional charges under review.
Community leaders gathered Friday at the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay Area to denounce the incident.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen called the behavior “appalling,” adding: “No one in America should be assaulted while exercising their constitutionally-protected rights.”
He said the men’s actions were “simply intolerable in a decent and law-abiding society.”
Commissioner Gwen Myers said the “Muslim community are our citizens,” adding: “We cannot allow this to happen, and it will not happen. This is why we’re here today to stand with them.”
The Muslim Student Association said there was no university staff present during the confrontation.
Its president, Malak Albustami, urged the administration to do more.
“To the USF administration, stand with us,” she said.
“Show us that we matter. It is your obligation to protect all students equally and ensure our safety on this campus to everyone else.”
USF later issued a statement saying it would increase patrols and campus police visibility “out of an abundance of caution.”
“USF does not tolerate harassment or discrimination,” the university said.
“Our policy explicitly prohibits Islamophobia, antisemitism and all other instances of hateful conduct targeting individuals because of their religion, shared ancestry or cultural heritage.
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