Man Shouts 'Allahu Akbar' At Teenagers Wearing Hijabs, Attacks Father Because He Thought They Were Muslim

A 35-year-old man from Nashville, Tennessee, pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime Friday after attacking a family in 2017 because he thought they were Muslim, prosecutors announced Monday.

Christopher Beckham pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement.

Beckham admitted that he yelled "Allahu Akbar!" and "Go back to your country!" at two teenage girls wearing hijabs on Oct. 24, 2017. When the girls' father arrived to pick the two up and go home, Beckham attacked him by swinging his knife at him and punching him, injuring the father.

When the girls' mother arrived with her young child in the car, Beckham chased after them with his knife still drawn.

Police arrived on the scene and arrested Beckham, who called the family "terrorists" and made other derogatory comments about the family. He also pledged to kill the family when the police released him.

According to the statement, Beckham admitted to carrying out the attack "because of the actual and perceived religion and national origin of the victims, namely that he perceived them to be Muslim and of a nationality other than American."

"(Beckham) confronted two young girls who were walking home from school and violently attacked their father because of how they worship,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan for the DOJ's civil rights division was quoted in the statement as saying.

"An attack upon the free exercise of any person’s religious beliefs is an attack on that person’s civil rights," she added.

Acting U.S. Attorney Mary Jane Stewart of the Middle District of Tennessee, for her part, said, "The cowardly and unprovoked attack and display of hate-filled aggression by this defendant toward two innocent young girls and their father is despicable."

She also commended the prosecutors and members of the FBI who all helped in prosecuting Beckham.

An investigation into the 2017 incident led to Beckham's indictment in April 2018. A trial in September 2019 ended in a hung jury.

Beckham will be sentenced on Oct. 7.