Man arrested as suspect in hate crime at Salem restaurant
Lauren E Hernandez
A Salem man has been charged with assault and intimidation after an employee at a Middle Eastern restaurant in Salem was attacked with a pipe, according to officials.
Jason Kendall, 52, was arrested Tuesday afternoon after entering Al Aqsa Fine Middle Eastern Cuisine on State Street and screaming "go back to your country terrorist" and attacking an employee of the restaurant, according to a Marion County probable cause statement.
Kendall told arresting officers he entered the restaurant during a "warrior's path" walk down State Street, when he saw a woman inside who he thought was being held as a slave because of a type of blouse she was wearing. He saw the shirt as a "signal" and he knew "that is what Arabs do."
Kendall said he started yelling because he saw a "Saddam Hussein looking guy" and walked inside the restaurant to tell the young woman she was "free to leave."
Kendall left the restaurant after an employee requested he leave the premises, but returned roughly five minutes later and continued yelling "get out of America" and "Arab, you need to leave (expletive)."
He told arresting officers he saw a plastic "evil totem" outside of the building that had Arabic writing on it, grabbed it, and tossed it at an employee's head.
The employee told officers Kendall threw the plastic object at his head before pursuing him with a pipe.
Kendall yelled expletives as the pipe pounded against the employee's skull. He calls his pipe "the horn of Gabriel."
Arresting officers could feel a sizeable bump on the employee's head.
Kendall said the pipe attack was self-defense, claiming the employee was armed with what he thought was an ice-pick under a napkin.
Kendall is facing one count of second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and second-degree intimidation.
Second-degree assault is a Measure 11 crime that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 70 months in prison.
The intimidation charge refers to Kendall threatening to inflict physical injury based on his perception of the race or national origin of the employee.
Lt. Dave Okada of Salem Police Department said police are looking into the incident as a potential hate crime, based on the intimidation charge.
"These crimes don't happen very often in our community," Okada said. "Our community really does come together and supports each other."
Gretchen Bennett, a staff liaison with the city of Salem's Human Rights and Relations Advisory Commission, said the commission works closely with Salem police in cases of hate crimes.
"There are somewhere in the nature of four and 10 times a year when Salem police informs us of a hate crime, but it's a significant concern that there are those that go unreported," Bennett said.
The commission's core response team, which meets monthly to support victims of "bias crime," aims to provide support and referral services for victims of hate crimes and hate incidents.
Bennett said the team provides emotional support in person or over the phone for as long as the victim desires.
She said the team wants to provide more than just reactionary support in cases of hate incidents.
"We immediately denounce the hateful activity and explain that this is not representative of all of Salem," Bennett said.
Kendall is being held in Marion County Jail on $65,000 bail. He is scheduled for an arraignment indictment on Friday, March 17 at 8:30 a.m. with Judge Daniel Wren.
