CINCINNATI -- A Cincinnati man is accused of shouting racial slurs and threatening to shoot a man with an Arabic name during a road rage incident, and a local Muslim civil liberties group is calling for "maximum charges" against him.
During a road rage incident on June 9, 43-year-old Shawn Mason told the man to "go back home" and get out of his country, according to court records. He told the man he could shoot him at any time.
Mason is facing charges of menacing and ethnic intimidation. He was released on $500 bond. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday.
The Cincinnati chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling on Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters "to pursue maximum charges" against Mason.
However, because the current charges Mason faces are misdemeanors, Deters said Tuesday night the incident was not within his jurisdiction. City solicitors are handling the case, he said.
"The charges in this incident are very serious and unfortunately are very typical of hate incidents being perpetrated against American Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim all across the country," CAIR-Cincinnati Executive Director Karen Dabdoub said in a news release. "CAIR has documented a serious increase in these types of crimes since the election of Donald Trump."
A pretrial hearing in Mason's case is set for Aug. 10.
