By Jeff Vorva
The Orland Park Police Department was lauded publicly for its swift action for the arrest of a resident involved in an alleged hate crime.
Terrence P. Clyne, 68, of the 15400 block of Catalina Court in Orland Park, was arrested on January 3 and charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery and one count of felony hate crime.
Police said that at 10:35 a.m. they responded to a call in the 15400 block of Begonia Court and that Clyne allegedly battered a man after he moved garbage cans from one area of a communal driveway to another.
According to a news release, police said that Clyne made hateful comments to him in response to the garbage can placement, referring to the alleged victim’s Palestinian origin. Police said Clyne then punched him in the face.
Police said the man’s wife approached in an attempt to verbally de-escalate the situation when Clyne allegedly made more hateful comments aimed at her while mentioning her Palestinian heritage and moved toward her aggressively.
The police report said the man stepped between Clyne and his wife and was again allegedly punched in the face and physically assaulted by Clyne, causing him to be pushed into his wife.
According to reports, Clyne was released after a January 4 court hearing in Bridgeview. He has a January 30 court date.
Shortly after the arrest was made public, the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations weighed in on the incident and praised the Orland Park police.
“We welcome the hate crime charge in this case as an indication that anti-Palestinian attacks will be taken seriously by law enforcement authorities and that the alleged perpetrators will face justice,” said CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab in a news release.
On January 4, CAIR-Chicago held a news conference to amplify the voices of Chicago-area Palestinian-American families, alongside doctors and faith leaders, urgently appealing to Governor JB Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Congressman Sean Casten to intervene and address the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.
The day before, CAIR-Chicago held a candlelight vigil coinciding with the pretrial proceedings of Joseph Czuba, who is on trial for allegedly murdering a Palestinian-American child in Plainfield.
The organization’s national office recently released new civil rights data showing that it has received 2,171 complaints amid an ongoing wave of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate.
Closer to the area, Hickory Hills resident Lisa Gaber and her family have received hate letters because they had a “Free Palestine” sign on their front lawn.
Dozens of people came out to support the family on Dec. 28 with a Stand in Silence rally outside the family’s home. The rally drew people from as far away as Milwaukee.