On Friday, March 17th, 27-year-old Joshua Ruano, from San Fransico, California, was arrested after he allegedly threatened to shoot a Muslim woman who was wearing a traditional hijab, whilst she was in a play area with her toddler.
The incident occurred approximately at 7:22 pm, at a play area near the Moscone convention centre on Howard Street. Joshua approached the hijab-wearing Muslim woman, made anti-Muslim comments and threatened to shoot her whilst she was playing with her son. After being threatened the Muslim woman fled the area and reported the incident to the police.
The two police officers caught up to Joshua a few blocks away from the scene of the threat, the officers searched Joshua but did not find gun on his person at the time of his arrest.
Joshua Ruano was arrested on charges of criminal threats with a hate crime enhancement and other unrelated charges, he was booked into the San Francisco County Jail but soon after released on bail.
Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations San Francisco Bay Area, made a statement in a press release regarding the incident, "This incident in San Francisco reminds all of us of the critical work to be done in our own communities to prevent hate crimes and protect each other, we applaud this woman who was targeted while with her child for bravely coming forward and hope it will encourage others to also seek help."