An 18-year-old Jewish teenager sitting at a Starbucks inside a Target store in Miami was targeted for wearing a kippah, struck with a cell phone, and assaulted with a metal chair in a violent antisemitic attack.
The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon at a Target store located at 140th Street and Biscayne Boulevard.
According to the victim’s interview with Local 10 News, he was sitting in the Starbucks seating area while his family shopped when a woman approached him. He said, “I wasn’t looking for problems, didn’t interact with her before, zero, it was completely unprovoked.”
Teen attacked by 43-year-old woman
According to the North Miami Beach Police Department arrest report and witness statements, 43-year-old Chyvonne Juanita Palmer stood up from her seat, approached the teenager, and began screaming at him before hitting him twice in the head and shoulder with a black cell phone.
After briefly returning to her seat, Palmer got back up and wielded a metal chair against him while shouting repeatedly, “I hate them.” Two bystanders intervened to prevent the chair attack while ushering the teenager away from the scene, where he hid in the store’s restroom.
Police took Palmer into custody at the scene. She has been charged with multiple offenses, including aggravated battery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with prejudice, and disorderly conduct.