A man has been arrested for an alleged hate crime after he was apparently filmed smearing bacon onto the home and car of a Muslim family in the Las Vegas valley.
Ricky Uwich, 58, from Las Vegas, Nevada, is facing charges of harassment, stalking and being a nuisance, all based on a person's perceived race, color, religion or national origin, according to a police report obtained by local station KTNV.
Uwich has been accused of harassing a Muslim family, including two young children, since January, as the alleged victims told the authorities that they feared for their safety.
The police were alerted to the issue when a Las Vegas police officer responded to a call from Uwich on June 21. After arriving at Uwich's residence, the officer was told by the 58-year-old that a neighboring Muslim family, whom he allegedly described as terrorists, had been bothering him.
When the officer visited the family, they informed him that their issues began with Uwich in January and claimed that his behavior towards them had gotten worse since.
The family said that they attempted to become friends with Uwich shortly after their alleged issues with him began, including by making him meals, but he said that he "was not happy with the efforts," according to ABC affiliate 8 News Now in Las Vegas.
The family told the officer that Uwich had smeared bacon on handrails, the doorknob and the wall of their house on June 19, and, on the day that he called the police, had wiped bacon on their car. Pork is forbidden in Islam, as it is considered unclean.
They then reportedly provided images and video footage of Uwich wiping the bacon on their property and car, alongside a clip from their Ring doorbell camera that purported to show the 58-year-old making threats at their door.
Alongside the footage and images, the family also showed the authorities texts allegedly from Uwich, in which he accused them of breaking a chandelier and molesting a juvenile in his residence.
KTNV reported this week that one of the family members was visibly upset while talking to police about the situation and said that the bacon incidents made her feel dirty.
Still according to KTNV, Uwich admitted to wiping the bacon on the family's residence and car when questioned by police, and claimed that he did it because he doesn't like Muslims and believes that they carried out the 9/11 terror attacks.
A report released by the FBI in November 2020 showed that hate crimes in the U.S. have risen to their highest level in more than a decade.
The statistics showed that there were 7,234 hate crimes carried out in the U.S. in 2019, the highest figure since 7,783 were recorded in 2008.
The report found that of the 1,715 victims of anti-religious hate crimes in the U.S. in 2019, 13.2 percent were victims of anti-Islamic bias. The figures for 2020 have not yet been released.
Newsweek has contacted the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
