![\"University](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/USF-Logo-by-Sean-Kinane-2015-Aug-19-DSCN4575-small.jpg\"){kind=logo}
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUSF logo. By Se\u00e1n Kinane\/WMNF News (Aug. 2015).<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUSF logo. By Se\u00e1n Kinane\/WMNF News (Aug. 2015).<\/p>\n
Listen to the story by WMNF\u2019s Lisa Marzilli:<\/p>\n
In Florida, maliciously disturbing a religious gathering is a first-degree misdemeanor, or a third-degree felony with hate crime enhancement.<\/p>\n
by\u00a0Valerie Smith<\/a> \u2013 Creative Loafing<\/a>; shared as part of the Tampa Bay Journalism Project<\/p>\n
A video posted to Instagram by the University of South Florida\u2019s Muslim Student Association (MSA) shows three men interrupting students during their morning prayer, spitting and yelling at them, and waving strips of bacon at them. USF said that their police department is currently gathering evidence and anticipates asking the state attorney to bring criminal charges.<\/p>\n Last Tuesday morning, Nov. 18, several MSA members gathered on top of a parking garage on USF\u2019s Tampa campus for Fajr, Islam\u2019s morning prayer. A\u00a0livestream<\/a>\u00a0by Warriors for Christ\u2014an organization\u00a0recognized by the SPLC<\/a>\u00a0as a hate group\u2014shows Muslim students kneeling in prayer as one of the men, identified in the video only as Ricardo, approaches with a painted cardboard box that reads \u201cKAABA 2.0 JESUS IS LORD.\u201d The Kaaba is a stone building at the center of the holiest site in Islam. While praying, Muslims face the geographical direction of the Kaaba.<\/p>\n The man sets up the box in front of the crowd while two other men, identifiable via their social medias (where they posted the video along with many other similar videos at other locations) as Richard Penkoski of Oklahoma and Christopher Svochak of Illinois, start to \u201cinsult\u201d the Muslim prophet, Muhammad, in obscene and sexual ways. One of the men calls them all terrorists. \u201cGo back to Mecca,\u201d he shouts.<\/p>\n At one point, Penkoski brings out a small Wawa container with bacon in it and waves it around while snacking from it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do care about you, so we brought you some bacon,\u201d Penkoski says. \u201cIt\u2019s really good. Bacon? Bacon? Anybody?\u201d<\/p>\n Like all pork products, bacon is considered haram, meaning Islam\u2019s rules forbid eating it. All of the students remain kneeling and continue on with their prayer.<\/p>\n \u201cI spit on the grave of Muhammad,\u201d the man identified as Ricardo says before spitting on the ground within a few feet of the students, who are still praying on the ground.<\/p>\n \u201cTake that towel off of your head,\u201d he says, pointing to a woman in the back wearing a religious head covering. At this point, after several minutes of the men shouting at the largely silent students, Ricardo lunges towards a student and points his finger in his face, prompting the student to briefly grab his wrist. Immediately, all three Christian men say this is evidence that Islam is a violent religion.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not how you preach,\u201d one of the students can be heard saying. \u201cBrother, you\u2019re harassing us,\u201d he says to Penkoski.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not my brother,\u201d Penkoski responds. \u201cThis isn\u2019t harassment; this is free speech. But thank you for doing what you did to give us more ammo to prove you\u2019re a bunch of violent psychopaths.\u201d<\/p>\n The video continues like this until the students leave and the Christian content creators do the same. \u201cThat was awesome. That was fun,\u201d one of the men can be heard saying as they walk away.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the way, don\u2019t ever spit on the ground. It\u2019s actually illegal,\u201d one of the Christians says to the man identified as Ricardo. \u201cWhat? Spitting on the ground?\u201d \u201cYes, it\u2019s illegal.\u201d \u201cWell, uh, I didn\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n Penkoski later posted a screenshot from the MSA group chat, in which one member gives an update on legal proceedings with the state attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a hate crime,\u201d Penkoski writes in the caption. \u201cFor a \u2018hate crime\u2019 to exist, there has to be an actual crime first.\u201d<\/p>\n Florida Statute 871.01<\/a>, which makes disrupting religious assembly a crime, reads: \u201cWhoever willfully and maliciously interrupts or disturbs any school or any assembly of people met for the worship of God, \u2026 commits a misdemeanor of the first degree.\u201d In Florida, a first-degree misdemeanor is punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and one year in prison.<\/p>\n Florida Statute 775.085<\/a>\u00a0contains rules for hate crime enhancement when there is evidenced prejudice against \u201crace, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, homeless status, or advanced age of the victim.\u201d This bumps first-degree misdemeanors up to third-degree felonies. Third-degree felonies are punishable by up to $5,000 in fines and five years in prison.<\/p>\n Florida Statute 784.0493<\/a>\u00a0deals with harassment based on religious or ethnic heritage. It makes it illegal (first-degree misdemeanor) to \u201cwillfully and maliciously harass or intimidate another person based on the person\u2019s wearing or displaying of any indicia relating to any religious or ethnic heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n The man, identified as Ricardo repeatedly told two women with religious head coverings to \u201cget that towel off your head,\u201d and called one a \u201cwicked woman\u201d and a \u201cJezebel dog.\u201d<\/p>\n As the men left the parking garage, Svochak spoke to the camera, saying Jesus helped him and Penkoski beat drug addiction.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat did he save you from?\u201d Penkoski asks Ricardo. \u201cI used to be a heathen,\u201d Ricardo replies.<\/p>\n The state attorney typically decides what initial charges to bring. The 13th Circuit State Attorney\u2019s Office has plans to speak with Creative Loafing Tampa Bay this morning, but as a policy it waits to start a case until police send investigative information along.<\/p>\n A\u00a0statement issued by USF<\/a>\u00a0says that campus police are still trying to identify the men in the video. USF also said that it has reached out to the affected students, and will issue trespass warnings to the men who interrupted the prayer. They anticipate referring the perpetrators to the state attorney for criminal charges.<\/p>\n This wouldn\u2019t be the first time Penkoski found himself in court over a stunt. The Christian content creator takes videos of himself and others \u201cstreet preaching,\u201d often insulting and demeaning nearby targets. Penkoski uploads the videos to his social media accounts and makes other targeted posts and includes a donation link through a Venmo account under his wife\u2019s name.<\/p>\n![\"Composite](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763661669_650_crop-From-left-to-right-Richard-Penkoski-Christopher-Svochak-and-Ricardo.jpg.png\")
(L-R) Richard Penkoski, Christopher Svochak, and Ricardo.Credit:\u00a0Screengrab via Warriors for Christ \/ YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n