CAIR Lauds Framingham PD Response To Anti-Islam Incident

FRAMINGHAM, MA — A Framingham man is facing a hate-crime charge following an assault on a Marlborough couple on Oct. 16, according to police.

The Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) lauded Framingham police for arresting Aleksey Cherednichenko, 56, and charging him with committing a hate crime, disorderly conduct, simple assault and malicious damage to a car, according to police.

The incident happened Oct. 16 at the parking lot outside Trader Joe's along Route 9. According to CAIR, Cherednichenko scratched the man's face and called his wife a "Muslim b----" and also called the couple "terrorists."

"We welcome hate crime charges for the alleged perpetrator of this disturbing attack," CAIR-MA Executive Director John Robbins said in a news release. "Anti-Muslim incidents are rising nationwide, and it is essential that authorities demonstrate that acts of violence and intimidation against Muslims will not be tolerated."

The Trader Joe's incident follows a September incident when two swastikas were found at Temple Beth Sholom in Framingham. The incident happened in between the Jewish holidays Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.