Florida Woman Assaults Jewish Teen at Target Starbucks with Cellphone, Faces Hate Crime Charge

Chyvonne Palmer, 43, allegedly struck a Jewish teen with her phone and raised a chair at him inside a Florida Target Starbucks, shouting "I hate them." She faces battery and hate crime charges.

Florida Woman Charged with Hate Crime After Attack on Jewish Teen Inside Target Starbucks

A 43-year-old Florida woman attacked a Jewish teenager inside a Target Starbucks, striking him with her cellphone and attempting to beat him with a metal chair, all while shouting "I hate them," Law & Crime reports.

Chyvonne Palmer, of Miami-Dade County, allegedly approached the teen without provocation after he sat down in the Starbucks seating area. According to a criminal complaint, she "suddenly stood up, approached [the victim] who was seated on the opposite side of the seating area, and began screaming and yelling at him" before striking him twice with her cellphone — once on the left side of his head and once on his left shoulder.

After the initial assault, Palmer returned to her seat as if nothing had occurred. Surveillance footage obtained by local Fox affiliate WSVN shows her subsequently grabbing a metal chair and raising it above her head in a second approach toward the teen. Witnesses intervened before she could land the blow. The victim fled into a men's restroom to escape further attack.

"[The victim] stated that, based on Palmer's actions, he was in well-founded fear that Palmer would strike him with the chair and continue the attack," the complaint states. The teen was wearing a yarmulke at the time. A witness reported that Palmer repeatedly shouted "I hate them" as she advanced with the chair.

Palmer again returned to her table after the chair incident and was later taken into custody by local officers. Her arrest disrupted normal business operations at the Target location. "Multiple customers were disrupted from conducting their business due to Palmer's disorderly and violent behavior inside the store," the complaint notes.

She was charged with battery, disorderly conduct, and aggravated assault with prejudice. During a bond hearing, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge told Palmer directly: "You cannot go to that Target under any circumstances, do you understand, ma'am?" Palmer is being held on a $12,750 bond.

The case has been referred to the State Attorney's Office and its Hate Crimes Unit, which is reportedly handling the prosecution.

Source: Law & Crime