AviationMan who forcibly pulled off woman's hijab during flight pleads guilty

Published 16 May 2016

Gill Payne, 37, on Friday pled guilty to using force to obstruct the religious freedom of a Muslim woman, who was identified in court by the letters KA. In December 2015, Payne was on a SouthWest Airlines plane flying from Chicago to Albuquerque. He noticed a woman sitting a few rows ahead of him, wearing a hijab. Witnesses said that he got out of his seat, walked down the aisle toward her, grabbed the hijab to expose her head, and shouted, “Take this off. This is America.”

The hijab is used throughout muslim societies // Source: commons.wikimedia.org

Gill Payne, 37, on Friday pled guilty to using force to obstruct the religious freedom of a Muslim woman, who was identified in court by the letters KA.

In December 2015, Payne was on a SouthWest Airlines plane flying from Chicago to Albuquerque. He noticed a woman sitting a few rows ahead of him, wearing a hijab. Witnesses said that he got out of his seat, walked down the aisle toward her, grabbed the hijab to expose her head, and shouted, “Take this off. This is America.”

“Because I forcibly removed KA’s hijab, I admit that the United States can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that I intentionally obstructed KA’s free exercise of her religious beliefs,” he said, in a written plea bargain with federal prosecutors.

“I saw that KA was wearing a headscarf. I was aware that it is a religious practice of Muslim women to wear a headscarf.”

The Daily Mail reports that KA, who did not know Payne, told officials she felt violated and quickly pulled her hijab back up after the assault happened.

Payne, who is from North Carolina, now faces up to a year in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000. 

Payne’s guilty plea was party of a plea bargain reached with the prosecution.

“No matter one’s faith, all Americans are entitled to peacefully exercise their religious beliefs free from discrimination and violence,” Vanita Gupta, head of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.

“Using or threatening force against individuals because of their religion is an affront to the fundamental values of this nation, and the Civil Rights Division will continue to be vigilant in protecting the religious liberties guaranteed to all Americans.”

The Washington Post said that the incident was but one of many incidents of Muslims being harassed or kicked off flights in the aftermath of the San Bernardino attacks earlier that month. The Justice Department says that Muslim women are the targets in 80 percent of anti-Muslim hate crimes reported in the United States.

Prosecutor Damon Martinez said that the case “sends a clear message to anyone who contemplates the use of threats or intimidation to interfere with the right of individuals, including members of our Muslim community, to express their faith without fear.”

The Post reports that in a report published this month, the Bridge Initiative, a Georgetown University research project focused on Islamophobia, found that anti-Muslim violence and vandalism rose last year to from 154 to 174 reported incidents. The 2015 incidents included 12 murders, 29 physical assaults, eight arsons, nine shootings or bombings, and 50 threats against people or institutions.