Jennifer Guilbeault, 23, shown on video assaulting Shohel Mahmud after he began reciting prayer in Arabic

A New York woman who pepper-sprayed a Muslim Uber driver while he was praying has been indicted by the Manhattan district attorney on hate crime charges.

Jennifer Guilbeault, 23, is shown in a surveillance video repeatedly pepper-spraying her Uber driver, Shohel Mahmud. The assault took place in August on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, near the corner of east 65th Street and Lexington Avenue, shortly after Mahmud began reciting a prayer in Arabic.

Guilbeault’s former employer, the public relations and marketing firm D Pagan Communications, wrote on X it is aware of her actions and “don’t condone this behavior”.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I’m glad she’s been indicted for a hate crime, but will Uber compensate the driver in any way? Of course not. He’s not an employee!

    And if you click through to the surveillance video article, you see this:

    Mahmud acknowledged the ordeal has hurt him financially, as he is the breadwinner of his family who currently lives in Bangladesh.

  • prole
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    2 months ago

    How do you live in New York City, and still be this overtly racist?

  • mlg@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    This story reminds me a lot of a cornerstore Deli in the ghetto side of (capital city of southern state).

    It is run by a Bengali dude with two Arab cooks and an African American local. The name is likely ripped from a famous NY sandwich shop, but no one actually knows that.

    The Arabs make most of the sandwiches and the African American specializes in salads.

    You’ll usually find the two Arabs reciting out loud while they cook, everyone seems to know everyone, and the Bengali is running the cash register and rejecting phony bills.

    The outside looks like a crackhouse warzone but the inside is an oasis lol. Always busy with people buying food or cornerstore items.

    Objectively the best place in the city to get a philly sub, but you’ll never see anyone mention it outside of the ghetto area.

    Point being that if someone asked me what defines America, I’d probably point to that place.

    • unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz
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      2 months ago

      that sounds amazing.

      i just watched the first season of a show called The Bear, crazy stressful Back of House restaurant environment, slaps on to my personal experience pretty well.

  • Coach@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Imagine being so fearful that someone praying in another language triggers you to pepper spray them. What is wrong with people?

    • ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net
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      2 months ago

      I can’t imagine what it feels like for a Uber driver. Riders are literally behind you, sitting in the back seat. There was a tiktok video of a psychopath jokingly pointing a gun at her driver.

    • Shark_Ra_Thanos@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      The entire religion, xtians too, is a sociopathic physical, mental, and social abusive of all women. She was right to freak the fuck out. They tend to do a little more than prey.

      • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
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        2 months ago

        What the fuck is wrong with you? This guy wasn’t hurting anybody by praying, and you don’t know anything about his other beliefs. Not every Muslim or Christian is a hateful, bigoted maniac. Most were raised in their respective religions from birth and don’t know any different.

        This kind of “all religious people are monsters” thinking screams “angsty teenager from r/atheism” and you should rethink your position. Be better.