Street Preacher Faces Hate Crime Charges After Targeting Muslim Students Across Multiple Universities
A street preacher accused of disrupting Muslim students during prayer at the University of Houston now faces criminal hate crime charges in Florida for similar harassment at the University of South Florida, according to law enforcement officials.
Houston Incident Sparks Multi-State Investigation
The social media user “Saint Chris” entered Lynn Eusan Park at the University of Houston on October 30, 2025, to disrupt the Muslim Student Association prayer event. The person used a megaphone to deliver anti-Islamic statements before he discarded a Quran into the bonfire, which students were praying at during the event.
The MSA members were in prayer when they lost the ability to move their eyes or make any sounds, according to the MSA’s social media post. A member of the association rushed to save the Islamic holy book from the burning fire.
The MSA identified this incident as a carefully planned attack. The organization described this incident as a calculated attempt to promote anti-Muslim discrimination through hate actions. The organization stated that the event restricted access to university students only. Still, the perpetrator uploaded manipulated videos to social media, which removed all footage showing Muslim students trying to calm down the situation.
Florida Charges Filed in Related Case
Three weeks after the Houston incident, authorities in Florida identified the individual as part of a group of three men who disrupted Muslim students during dawn prayer at the University of South Florida on November 18, 2025. Police charged Christopher Svochak, 40, from Waco, Texas; Richard Penskoski, 49, from Canyon, Oklahoma; and Ricardo Yepez from Tampa with felony hate crimes under Florida’s hate-crime enhancement law.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the men invaded a parking garage at USF. They subjected Muslim students to harassment during their fajr prayer, with videos showing them shouting slurs, brandishing bacon, and encroaching upon worshippers as they bowed in prayer. Islamic dietary laws prohibit the consumption of pork and its derivatives.
“They walked so close to our faces while we were in the bow position that we genuinely feared they might stomp on us,” said Abu Tahir, a student present during the incident, according to the New York Post. Another student, Sajid Kahn, described the encounter: “They walked in and made a mockery of our culture, our religion, and our traditions.”
Pattern of Targeting Muslim Communities
The suspects presented themselves as official street preachers who released a statement to defend their right to preach and criticize Islam under constitutional freedom. The authorities, together with community leaders, have declared their actions to be beyond free speech boundaries because they amount to criminal harassment.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen described the conduct as “appalling” while stating that “Every American citizen deserves protection from assault when they exercise their constitutional rights,” according to WFTV. USF Police Chief Chris Daniel declared the incident requires immediate attention from our department. Our department exists to protect all community members, and we will use every available resource to achieve accountability while preserving safety for everyone.
University Responses and Student Demands
The University of Houston Police Department launched an investigation following the October incident. The Muslim Student Association requires three university actions to safeguard Muslim students: the university must enforce campus entry rules to prevent the person from reentering, publish a statement on student safety, and establish designated prayer spaces for students who wish to pray.
The USF police department deployed additional officers to campus following the November incident. The three suspects received trespass warnings prohibiting them from entering campus, while detectives forwarded their cases to the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office for potential additional charges.