Man Sentenced In Hate Crime Over Puerto Rico Flag Shirt

SKOKIE, IL — The man convicted of hate crimes for threatening a woman wearing a shirt with the Puerto Rican flag on it avoided prison time at his sentencing hearing Monday.

Tim Trybus, 63, of Chicago's Norwood Park neighborhood, was found guilty last month of hate crime-disorderly conduct and hate crime-assault following a two-day jury trial in Skokie.

At a hearing Monday, Cook County Circuit Judge Aleksandra Gillespie sentenced Trybus to two years probation, 200 hours of community service, a ban from Cook County Forest Preserve property for the duration of his probation and mandatory drug and alcohol treatment, prosecutors said.

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office upgraded his misdemeanor charges to hate crimes after a livestreamed video of a June 14, 2018, incident in the Caldwell Woods forest preserve attracted national attention by appearing to show tacit police approval for his brazen racist rant.

In the video, a seemingly intoxicated Trybus berates a woman as she arrives at a picnic area she had rented to celebrate her 24th birthday. According to testimony at trial, Trybus became aggressive after realizing her shirt contained the flag of the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico rather than the state of Texas.

"You're not going to change us, you know that? The world is not going to change the United States of America. Period. And you should not be wearing that in the United States of America," Trybus rants. "Are you a citizen? Are you a United States citizen? Then you should not be wearing that. You should be wearing United States of America flag. Not Puerto Rico."

The video, played several times for jurors, shows Trybus seen repeatedly approaching the woman as she continues to back up. It also shows former Cook County Forest Preserve Police Department officer Patrick Connor observing the verbal assault without intervening. He resigned one day before he would have faced a disciplinary hearing over the incident amid calls for his firing.

Trybus could have faced up to five years in prison for the conviction, prosecutors had said. He remained free on house arrest ahead of trial but was jailed when his bond was revoked after the jury found him guilty.

At the sentencing hearing, prosecutors said the victim in the case did not want Trybus to be sentenced to prison time, according to the Chicago Tribune. Trybus told the judge he was drinking alcohol and taking pain medications following dental surgery prior to his rant and was "extremely saddened," "embarrassed" and "shamed" by the incident.

Read more:

• Jury Finds Man Guilty Of Hate Crimes In Puerto Rican Flag Assault
• Hate Crime Trial Begins In Puerto Rico Flag Shirt Case
• Puerto Rico Shirt Case: Cop Resigns, Man Charged With Hate Crime
• Video Shows Man Harass Woman For Puerto Rico Shirt