Bardo
7th February 2011, 00:55
ST. PETERSBURG – The man accused of stabbing a Muslim shopowner in the neck because of his religion was released from prison Saturday night.
Bradley Kent Strott, 52, and Samad Ebadi, 57, were talking about Islam over beers at Marsha's Wayside Inn, a smoky tavern on 54th Street N, Friday night when Ebadi said he was Muslim, an officer's report states.
Strott became angry, grabbed Ebadi by his shirt and stabbed him with a pocket knife, the report states. Strott would later say that "Muslims are the root of the problem."
A woman rushed to tell Ebadi's son, Ali, who was working next door at Sam's Food Market, the family's convenience store, that his father had been stabbed. Ebadi found his father pale-faced and slumped over on a bar stool, his shirt dark with dried blood. Someone held a napkin to his neck.
"Nobody was doing anything. Nobody was calling 911," he said. "It's like they didn't want to deal with the hassle. They didn't care if he died right there."
Samad Ebadi was taken to Bayfront Medical Center, where doctors stitched up his black and swollen neck. He looks like he'll recover, Ebadi said.
Deputies arrested Strott, charging him with a hate crime of aggravated battery and booking him into the Pinellas County Jail. Strott was released Saturday after posting a $15,000 bond.
Ebadi said Strott, a store regular who had known his father for years, looked extremely drunk after the stabbing, and he didn't seem to understand what he had just done with his knife.
"It was just pure hate," Ebadi said. "He attempted to murder my dad. ... What about the next victim, the next time this guy is drunk and someone says they're Muslim?"
I saw this on the local news tonight. While I am an anti-theist, this kind of reactionary, nationalistic hate belongs in the history books.
Bradley Kent Strott, 52, and Samad Ebadi, 57, were talking about Islam over beers at Marsha's Wayside Inn, a smoky tavern on 54th Street N, Friday night when Ebadi said he was Muslim, an officer's report states.
Strott became angry, grabbed Ebadi by his shirt and stabbed him with a pocket knife, the report states. Strott would later say that "Muslims are the root of the problem."
A woman rushed to tell Ebadi's son, Ali, who was working next door at Sam's Food Market, the family's convenience store, that his father had been stabbed. Ebadi found his father pale-faced and slumped over on a bar stool, his shirt dark with dried blood. Someone held a napkin to his neck.
"Nobody was doing anything. Nobody was calling 911," he said. "It's like they didn't want to deal with the hassle. They didn't care if he died right there."
Samad Ebadi was taken to Bayfront Medical Center, where doctors stitched up his black and swollen neck. He looks like he'll recover, Ebadi said.
Deputies arrested Strott, charging him with a hate crime of aggravated battery and booking him into the Pinellas County Jail. Strott was released Saturday after posting a $15,000 bond.
Ebadi said Strott, a store regular who had known his father for years, looked extremely drunk after the stabbing, and he didn't seem to understand what he had just done with his knife.
"It was just pure hate," Ebadi said. "He attempted to murder my dad. ... What about the next victim, the next time this guy is drunk and someone says they're Muslim?"
I saw this on the local news tonight. While I am an anti-theist, this kind of reactionary, nationalistic hate belongs in the history books.