LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Lexington man vows to never let his guard down again after what he says happened at a restaurant recently.
Omar Shalash says on the night of March 28, his family was waiting at a table at Cheddar's restaurant in Lexington when another man allegedly made Islamophobic comments to him.
Shalash shared the experience on the social platform 'X', writing that the man asked the hostess, "Don't you all sell pork here? A lot of pork?" Then turned to him and said, "You must own this place huh, just like every f**king gas station in town?"
Shalash said when he followed the guy to ask him what his problem was, the man pulled a gun out and pointed it at his forehead, allegedly saying quote, "do you want to die Arabia?"
Shalash called 911 and Lexington police later arrested Melvin Perry Litteral III at his home. He's charged with wanton endangerment and resisting arrest.
At a preliminary hearing last week, a Lexington police officer testified that security video showed Litteral pointing the gun about a foot from Shalash's face after Litteral allegedly made threats to Shalash about “going back to Arabia, the middle east.”
In court, Litteral's attorney, Ryan Robey, argued his client had the right to protect himself. "Mr. Litteral didn't pull the trigger – in order to have wanton endangerment first [degree] you have to have extreme indifference to the value of human life," Robey said. "I don't believe his actions constitute that even if we believe everything the officer said and saw him do."
Fayette District Court Judge Lindsay Hughes Thurston disagreed and sent the case to the grand jury. She also ordered Litteral to have no firearms in his possession while his case is pending.
By statute, a case can be considered a hate crime if, during the commission of a crime, a person targets a victim intentionally because of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national origin.
The statute indicates a hate crime is not an individual charge, but an an enhancer. Meaning if someone is convicted of a crime, a judge can find they committed a hate crime and note it in their criminal history.
Down the line, that could be used against them when a judge determines whether or not to grant probation or early release.
As for Omar Shalash, he said in his original post on 'X' that “Life as a Muslim-American is drastically changing due to the continuous Islamophobia we endure on a daily basis. People will never understand the high alert we must stay on when going out to eat at a restaurant.”
