Woman charged with hate crime after allegedly placing pork products in front of Muslim-owned grocery store

WPEC reports that on the afternoon of May 30, surveillance footage allegedly captured Christine Fernandez putting pork products on the sidewalk outside of a store, owned by Hiba Sharef, specializing in Middle Eastern groceries. Islam’s dietary laws forbid pork consumption.

Hometown News Treasure Coast reports the footage allegedly showed Fernandez dropping bacon onto the ground outside the entrance. She was identified after staff members at a nearby restaurant reviewed their surveillance footage as well. Fernandez is reportedly the girlfriend of a regular customer at the restaurant.

Police contacted Fernandez and she allegedly told them that she did not mean for the act to come across as malicious and therefore it did not warrant an apology to the business owners. She claimed she acted as part of a “bet regarding who would place bacon bits in front of a store,” according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Hometown News Treasure Coast.

AOL reports that she allegedly said, “It was a joke. Drop it there. And that’s exactly what I did. Was it poor taste? Yeah. Was it funny? Maybe not to them. It’s just bacon.”

She was arrested on June 22, according to Hometown News Treasure Coast.

WPEC reports Fernandez was charged June 24 with harassment or intimidation based on religious or ethnic heritage.

According to the affidavit, Fernandez allegedly “knowingly selected a business she perceived to be associated with Islam or Middle Eastern culture and intentionally deposited pork products at that location because of that perceived association. Her actions were purposeful, targeted, and directed solely toward the victims’ business.”

According to Port. St. Lucie Police Department spokesman Lt. Joe Norkus, Fernandez’s charge is considered a hate crime under Florida law, per AOL.

Fernandez was booked into jail and released on $750 bond, per WPEC.

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