Man Who Berated Woman Over T-Shirt With Puerto Rican Flag Is Convicted of Hate Crimes

A Chicago man who was seen last year in a widely viewed video berating a woman in a city park for wearing a T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag was convicted this week of two felony hate crime charges.A Cook County jury found the man, Timothy Trybus, 63, guilty Wednesday after deliberating for 3 1/2 hours at the 2nd Municipal District Skokie Courthouse in Skokie, Illinois.Trybus could face up to five years in prison on Oct. 21, when he is sentenced for his role in the June 14, 2018, episode, in which he repeatedly asked the woman, Mia Irizarry, if she was an American citizen and demanded to know why she was wearing a shirt with the Puerto Rican flag.In a video of the confrontation, which Irizarry streamed on Facebook Live, Trybus told her, "You are not going to change us, you know that, right?" as he walked up to her."Are you a United States citizen? Then you should not be wearing that," he said to Irizarry, who noted in the video that she was in Caldwell Woods setting up for a birthday party and said that she had paid for a permit.Trybus was arrested that day and charged with disorderly conduct and assault. He was later charged with felony hate crimes in connection with the episode.Irizarry's video went viral about a month after the confrontation, prompting swift condemnation from public officials, including the governor of Puerto Rico.Efforts to reach Irizarry on Thursday were unsuccessful, but in an interview last year, she said that during the encounter she was "genuinely fearful for what could have happened to me."Assistant State's Attorney Sharon Kanter told jurors that freedom of speech is "a hallmark of our democracy," according to the Chicago Sun-Times."However, it is not unlimited," Kanter added. "You can't say anything, anywhere at any time."Trybus' lawyer, David Goldman, said Thursday that the question he posed to the jury was whether Irizarry was "really, reasonably in fear of receiving a battery.""The videotape showed that at times Tim got close to her and was yelling at her, waving his arms and pointing," he said Thursday. But he noted that his client never touched Irizarry, and that she kept her poise during the encounter. He said that Trybus' "obnoxious behavior" came after mixing alcohol and prescription medicine, which a doctor had ordered for him after the removal of six teeth the day before.A police officer who ignored Irizarry's plea for assistance during the episode later resigned.Trybus, who had been allowed to remain at home while wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet pending trial, was taken into custody after the verdict.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company