A man has admitted he pulled off a woman's hijab and exposed her head while on a Southweast Airlines flight.
Gill Parker Payne, 37, of Gastonia, North Carolina, was flying from Chicago to Albuquerque, New Mexico, when he walked up the aisle to the woman, identified as KA.
He told her: 'Take this off! This is America!' before grabbing the hijab and exposing her head, federal authorities said.
KA later told officials she felt 'violated' and quickly pulled her hijab back up.
Payne pleaded guilty Friday to one count of using force or threat of force to intentionally obstruct a Muslim woman in the free exercise of her religious beliefs, the Department Of Justice said on Friday in a statement.
Payne had been sitting several rows behind KA on the airplane before the December 2015 attack.
He did not previously know her.
'I saw that KA was wearing a headscarf. I was aware that it is a religious practice of Muslim women to wear a headscarf,' Payne said in the plea agreement.
He now faces up to a year in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000.
'No matter one's faith, all Americans are entitled to peacefully exercise their religious beliefs free from discrimination and violence,' Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.
'Using or threatening force against individuals because of their religion is an affront to the fundamental values of this nation, and the Civil Rights Division will continue to be vigilant in protecting the religious liberties guaranteed to all Americans.'
A sentencing hearing has not been set yet.
- See more at: http://www.buzorpages.com/2016/05/man-admits-to-ripping-off-womans-hijab.html

but why?