A Lombard man is being charged with a hate crime after he allegedly threatened to shoot two Muslim men amid a verbal assault in the parking lot of an apartment complex earlier this week, authorities said.
Larry York, 46, is charged with two counts of hate crime, a Class 4 felony.
Officials said that at around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, one of the two victims had arrived at the West Point Apartment Complex in Lombard to meet up with a friend when York approached him while he was still sitting inside his vehicle.
According to authorities, York asked the man what he was doing there, while demanding him to leave and telling him that he did not belong in the country.
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At this time, officials said York then punched the window of the man's car before retreating the apartment's lobby. As York entered the lobby, the second victim was exiting an elevator at which time York directed obscenities at him and threatened to beat him.
Police said that a short time later, as one of the victims was sitting on a bench outside the building, York lifted one end of the bench up, causing the man to fall on the ground at which time York allegedly told the men he called four of his friends to come shoot them.
York allegedly further threatened the men during the incident, shouting obscenities at them centering around their Muslim faith and at one point saying "this is America" while demanding that they get out of the country.
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Officials said an investigation from Lombard police led them to identify York, who was arrested at a bar in Lombard on Wednesday without incident.
York has been denied pre-trial release and is slated to appear in court again on Nov. 2.
