The University of South Florida Police Department said they've identified and filed charges against two of the three men shown in a video harassing a group of Muslim students on the Tampa campus.
The two individuals are identified as Christopher Svochak, 40, from Waco, Texas and Richard Penkoski, 49, of Canyon, Oklahoma. The two have no ties to USF.
USFPD said the men are each facing three charges, including disturbing schools and religious and other assemblies, which was upgraded to a felony under the hate crime statute.
They also face charges of disorderly conduct and disrupting school or lawful assembly, both misdemeanors.
The USFPD said they also intend to file trespass orders so the two will be barred from returning to campus.
The police are still working to identify the third individual.
A statement issued Friday evening said, "USF does not tolerate harassment or discrimination. Our policy explicitly prohibits Islamophobia, antisemitism and all other instances of hateful conduct targeting individuals because of their religion, shared ancestry or cultural heritage."
Penkoski is described as the leader of the group "Warriors for Christ" on its YouTube page, where the live stream video of the harassment was posted.
The group is known for protesting against LGBTQ+ events, outside of abortion clinics, and against the Islamic religion.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated it as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group.
The USF student group also named "Warriors for Christ" issued a statement saying it is not affiliated with the hate group.
Community leaders gather in support of students
On Friday morning, elected officials and religious leaders gathered at the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay alongside the members of USF's Muslim Student Association (MSA).
The news conference was held three days after the three men disrupted the group's early morning prayer, or fajr, on top of the Collins Boulevard Parking Garage.
Videos on social media show the men shouting and mocking the Islamic religion. They told the students they were "going to burn in hell" and that they "needed Jesus Christ."
One man wore a white thobe with the words "Jesus is God" written on the front and shouted at the the students to look towards a cardboard box with the words "Kaaba 2.0 Jesus is Lord."
A kaaba is a shrine located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is where Muslims orient themselves during prayer.
At one point, a man spit on the ground near the students and waved his finger in the face of one of the students, who then grabbed his wrist.
"Did we put our hands on you? Did we touch you? No, but that's what you did," the man behind the camera said. "This isn't harassment, this is free speech."
At the news conference, community leaders roundly condemned the men's behavior.
Hillsborough County District 1 commissioner Harry Cohen called their actions "appalling."
"No one in America should be assaulted while exercising their constitutionally-protected rights," Cohen said. "The menacing behavior exhibited by these thugs is simply intolerable in a decent and law-abiding society."
District 3 commissioner Gwen Myers was also present, and affirmed that the "Muslim community are our citizens."
"We cannot allow this to happen, and it will not happen," said Myers, "This is why we're here today to stand with them."
Abu Tahir, a member of the MSA who was at the prayer, described being afraid that the encounter would turn violent.
"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," he said.
Tahir said the nature of their prayer is such that they can't turn around or move until it is over.
"We had a thought in our head, do we break the prayer? Do we end the prayer to address whatever is going on?" he recounted.
Tahir said they were able to finish, but when they looked up, the men were taunting the students with bacon.
In Islam, pork is forbidden.
"We had no idea whether we were going to leave there safely," Tahir said.
Joseph Maurer, the chief deputy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, said the men "crossed the line."
"It is your First Amendment right to speak to anybody. But if you are creating a hostile environment where people feel unsafe, then that's not your First Amendment right," Maurer said. "If you're within inches of somebody in a prone position, when they're in their prayer position, that's [not a] safe environment."
Ahmed Bedier, a member of the Islamic Society who had organized the news conference, said the incident is consistent with a rise in anti-Muslim incidents.
"There's this rising tension, and there are certain groups that have agendas to stoke division and fear and to divide our nation along religious or racial lines," said Bedier.
A report from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy group, shows complaints of anti-Muslim discrimination is at its highest since the organization's first report in 1996.
In 2024, CAIR received a total of 8,658 complaints nationwide, up 7.4% from the previous year.
"It's incumbent upon the university to protect all students, and we know that they're capable of doing that," Bedier said, "We saw heavy police presence in the past on campus to protect other marginalized groups."
After the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, USF provided round-the-clock security for the Tampa campus's Hillel Jewish Student Center, and met with students and professionals to hear their concerns.
In the wake of the harassment of the Muslim student group, USF said in a statement they will increase police presence on campus and at events. The university also said they'd work with the students on finding a space for future events.
However, some students feel that the university's response in the past hasn't been enough.
Also Read: Jewish group applauds USF while protesters say admin has 'ignored' concerns
Malak Albustami, a junior and president of the Muslim Student Association, spoke at the Friday morning conference.
"We are disappointed. When we needed protection, we felt invisible. When we needed leadership, we were met with silence," said Albustami. "To the USF administration, stand with us."
Similar complaints have been made in the past by student groups protesting the war between Hamas and Israel.
The MSA published a list of demands, which include denouncing Islamophobia, meeting promptly with MSA leadership, and addressing the group's concerns at the next USF Board of Trustees meeting.
