Prosecutors decline to file hate crime charges in USF Muslim harassment case

Lucy Marques, Tampa Bay Times on Jan 15, 2026

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TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough County prosecutors declined to pursue hate crime charges against three men who harassed a group of Muslim students while they prayed on the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus in November.

Instead, Richard Penkoski, 49, Christopher Svochak, 40, and Ricardo Yepez, 28, are charged with disturbing a religious assembly and disorderly conduct, which are misdemeanors. None of the men have any affiliation with USF.

Warriors for Christ, which is designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, livestreamed the harassment on YouTube, and it was widely circulated on social media. In the video, the three men shouted at the students, spit on the ground in front of them and taunted them with pieces of bacon. One clip shows one of the men telling the students they have no business being in the United States.

The USF police department initially charged the three men with a felony and two misdemeanors — disturbing schools and religious assemblies, disorderly conduct and disrupting school or lawful assembly.

Local law enforcement referred the case to the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office, which said in a news release that the criminal justice system “punishes actions, not words alone.”

“Both the Florida Constitution and United States Constitution protect offensive viewpoints as much as our freedom to practice our religion,” the release states. “Our office will defend every person’s right to worship freely, peacefully, and without fear. No one should have to choose between practicing their faith and feeling safe.”

The defendants will be set for arraignment, according to the release.

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