The University of South Florida Police Department said it has identified and filed charges against three men shown in a video appearing to harass a group of Muslim students on the Tampa campus.
The suspects, who have no tie to USF, were identified as Christopher Svochak, 40, of Waco, Texas; Richard Penkoski, 49, of Canyon, Oklahoma; and Ricardo Yepez, 28, of Tampa.
University police said they each face a charge of disturbing schools and religious and other assemblies, which was upgraded to a felony under the hate crime statute. Other charges include disorderly conduct and disrupting school or lawful assembly, both misdemeanors.
Police said they also intend to file trespass orders so the men will be barred from campus.
Police identified Svochak and Penkoski on Friday but were still searching for the third suspect. They announced Saturday evening that Yepez had been identified.
A university 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 was described as the leader of the group "Warriors for Christ" on its YouTube page, where live stream video of the incident was posted. The group is known for protesting against LGBTQ+ events, outside of abortion clinics, and against Islam. The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated it as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group.
A USF student organization also named "Warriors for Christ" issued a statement saying it is not affiliated with Penkoski's 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 members of USF's Muslim Student Association (MSA).
The news conference was held three days after the disruption of the association's early morning prayer, or fajr, on top of the Collins Boulevard Parking Garage.
Videos on social media show three men shouting and mocking aspects of Islam. They are heard on the video telling the prayer participants 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 toward a cardboard box with the words "Kaaba 2.0 Jesus is Lord."
A kaaba is a shrine in Mecca, 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," a man behind the camera is heard saying. "This isn't harassment; this is free speech."
At the news conference, community leaders roundly condemned the behavior.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen called the actions on the video "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."
County commissioner Gwen Myers affirmed 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 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, 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 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 Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, USF provided round-the-clock security for the Tampa campus's Hillel Jewish Student Center, and met with students and professionals to hear concerns.
In the wake of the MSA incident, USF said in a statement it will increase police presence on campus and at events. The university also said it would work with the MSA on finding a space for future events.
However, some students said they feel the university's response in the past hasn't been enough.
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"We are disappointed. When we needed protection, we felt invisible. When we needed leadership, we were met with silence," USF junior Malak Albustami, the MSA president, said at the Friday news conference. "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.
