Woman faces hate crime charges for attacking Palestinian, pregnant wife at Downers Grove Panera

A woman faces hate crime charges after she criticized a man wearing a “Palestine” hoodie at a Downers Grove Panera restaurant.

Alexandra Szustakiewicz, 64, of Darien, allegedly confronted the man and shouted obscenities at him as she tried to hit his pregnant wife just before noon Saturday at a restaurant, Downers Grove police said.

The police reported that the woman accompanying the man began recording the entire incident on her mobile phone, which Szustakiewicz allegedly tried to knock out of her hands. The video was shared on social media.

Police said Szustakiewicz was arrested on Sunday at her home and charged with two hate crimes and one breach of public order. She was booked into the DuPage County Jail.

“This type of behavior is not and will never be tolerated in our community,” Downers Grove Police Chief Michael DeVries said in a statement.

One of the victims, Waseem Zahran, said he repeatedly tried to defuse the situation, even after Shustakiewicz allegedly punched him in the face and tried to throw hot coffee on his wife before and after the multiple attacks. He said Szustakiewicz continued to call his wife names after he told Szustakiewicz that his wife was pregnant. “I don’t care,” she replied.

Zahran claims the woman said, “Fuck Palestine and fuck you,” after asking the couple if they were Palestinian.

Zahran said he and other Palestinians have come to expect this type of behavior because of rampant Islamophobia in the United States. Before he and his wife moved to Downers Grove a few months ago, they lived in Plainfield, just a few blocks from where 6-year-old Palestinian American boy Wadee Alfayoumi was staying. stabbed to death. The family’s owner, Józef Czuba, was charged with the boy’s murder in October 2023.

Zahran says this isn’t the first time he’s been harassed over a sweatshirt and he doesn’t expect it to be the last.

“Since I was a child, I had seen my mother threatened, my parents shouted at and my cousins ​​shouted at, but for me this was the first attack,” Zahran said. “It is well known in our community how serious this anti-Palestinian (sentiment) is.”

He said he learned to “always be there for people,” but even after Saturday’s attack, he was grateful for the community that supported him and his wife.

“I wouldn’t feel good without this community,” he said.

As for the allegations, he said he was pleasantly surprised that she suffered the consequences of the attack. Initially, Panera employees came to her aid and treated her like a victim after she allegedly beat him and also tried to hit his wife while shouting profanities.

“She was a victim and even though they watched me being attacked for over a minute, it was kind of disgusting,” Zahran said. “(So) I wasn’t sure if they would be charged, but justice will come for her. It gives me some hope for this society.”

Panera did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office, on Monday, DuPage County Judge Joshua Dieden granted Szustakiewicz temporary leave, which included a ban on contact with Zahran and his wife and a ban from entering the Panera where the incident occurred.

According to the prosecutor’s office, Szustakiewicz is to be indicted on December 16.

“Every member of society, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or other individual characteristics, deserves to be treated with respect and civility,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement. “Such behavior and the prejudices that accompany it have no place in a civilized society, and my office stands ready to bring appropriate charges in such cases.”

DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office/provided