A man wearing a yarmulke was allegedly attacked at a North Miami Beach Target after a woman approached him at the store’s Starbucks, struck him with her cellphone and returned carrying a metal chair. Police say the Sunday afternoon confrontation was motivated by hatred, and witnesses intervened before the chair could be used against him.
The incident happened around 2:40 p.m. Sunday at the Target on Biscayne Boulevard, where 43-year-old Chyvonne Juanita Palmer allegedly approached the man from across the Starbucks seating area and began screaming at him, according to Local 10.
An arrest report says Palmer hit the man twice with a cellphone, went back to her seat and then returned while wielding a metal chair. A witness told officers Palmer repeatedly shouted, “I hate them,” while approaching the victim; the witness and another woman stopped the attempted chair attack and ushered the man into a men’s bathroom for safety, the report says.
Police Filed Three Charges After Target Confrontation
North Miami Beach police arrested Palmer on charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with prejudice and disorderly conduct. The police account says Palmer’s statements were inconsistent and unrelated to the incident, while she talked about an unknown woman who supposedly wanted to attack her.
Palmer was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, with bond listed as “to be set” in online records as of Monday morning, according to Local 10’s report. The allegations have not been tested in court, and an arrest is not a finding of guilt.
Florida Law Allows Hate-Crime Penalty Enhancements
Florida’s hate-crime law covers offenses showing prejudice based on religion, among other protected categories. Under Florida Statutes Section 775.085, an offense can be reclassified to a more serious level when prosecutors establish that the crime evidenced prejudice and that the defendant knew or had reason to know the victim belonged to the protected class.
The “with prejudice” language in the assault allegation reflects that bias-related enhancement, but it is not itself a conviction. Prosecutors and the court would ultimately determine how the allegations proceed and whether any enhancement applies.
Allegations Follow Other Recent South Florida Antisemitic Incidents
The North Miami Beach case comes after other high-profile allegations involving antisemitic harassment or violence in the Miami area. Hoodline previously reported on a Miami Beach teacher who police said was attacked near a Jewish school after being targeted with antisemitic slurs, while a separate Miami Beach park confrontation led to an arrest after a man was accused of directing antisemitic insults at a father and his children.
Those cases are separate from the Target investigation, but they have added to concern among Jewish residents about harassment in public places. In this case, police say the intervention of two bystanders prevented the confrontation from escalating further.
