Darien woman faces hate crime charges for alleged anti-Palestinian attack, authorities say

A Darien woman faces felony hate crime charges and a public disturbance accusation after she allegedly attacked a man wearing a pro-Palestinian sweatshirt and his pregnant wife in a west suburban Panera Bread Saturday.

Authorities have accused Alexandra Szustakiewicz, 64, of hate crime assault and battery after she allegedly yelled profanities at the man, whose sweatshirt read “Palestine,” and tried to slap his wife’s phone out of her hands as she filmed the confrontation. Charging documents specifically accuse her of having “committed a hate crime by reason of perceived national origin.”

Szustakiewicz was arrested Sunday, according to a news release from DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin. A DuPage County judge on Monday ordered her released pending trial on the condition that she not return to the Panera Bread where the attack allegedly took place, located at 7361 Lemont Rd. in Downers Grove. Szustakiewicz is also barred from any contact with the alleged victims of the attack.

“This type of behavior and the accompanying prejudice have no place in a civilized society and my office stands ready to file the appropriate charges in such cases,” Berlin said in the news release.

Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of the Muslim civil rights group CAIR-Chicago, welcomed the charges in a statement, saying the alleged attack also fit into a broader increase in anti-Palestinian and Islamaphobic behavior as the Israel-Hamas war enters its second year.

“This alleged shameful and abusive behavior has to be understood and called out for what it is, not only in its horrid details but in the context of the larger hateful phenomenon of which it comes; it cannot and will not have a home here,” Rehab said.

Anti-semitism is also on the rise as the war spreads further throughout the Middle East.

Szustakiewicz’s next court appearance is set for Dec. 16, records show.