Woman sentenced for hate crime against Ballard deli clerks

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By KOMO Staff & News Services

Summary

The woman who was convicted of a racial tirade against Ballard deli clerks has been sentenced to nine months behind bars. In February, Nichol Kirk and a Shoreline man were convicted of malicious harassment for slinging words and punches.

Story Published: Aug 3, 2007 at 10:59 PM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 4, 2007 at 1:31 PM PDT

Woman sentenced for hate crime against Ballard deli clerks
The woman who was convicted of a racial tirade against a Ballard deli owner has been sentenced to 9-months behind bars.

A judge on Friday gave Nichol Kirk, 25, the maximum sentence.

Back in February Kirk and a Shoreline man were charged under the state's hate crime law after a surveillance camera at Saleh's Delicatessen caught a confrontation between two customers and two clerks during which racial slurs, obscenities and punches were thrown. The pair was convicted of malicious harassment for slinging words and punches at the clerks.

After the judge handed down the sentence, Kirk apologized to Steven Saleh, the deli owner.

"I accept responsibility and ask for forgiveness from you. I'm sure you are a very kind man, as described by many of your customers," Kirk said in court.

Surveillance footage shows a 35-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman trying to buy beer and cigarettes.

Saleh was seemingly relieved in court following the sentencing and the apology for the startling incident back in February.

Steven Saleh and his nephew, Fares Kasim, were behind the counter. The men say the pair appeared drunk and quickly became belligerent.

"She said we were un-American and she started calling us names like 'Arabs' and 'go back to your country' and all that," Kasim said.

"Hey guess what? You're un-American. You can't," the woman is seen saying on tape.

After the rude comments, the store clerks refused to serve the couple.

Surveillance footage shows Saleh demanding the pair to leave.

"Get out!" he says.

"Guess what, you un-American mother------!" the woman responds.

"She's drunk. She's drunk. She's drunk. Get her out of here," Saleh says to the man.

But instead of leaving with the woman, the footage shows the man lunging across the counter and trying to reach for Saleh's throat.

But Saleh manages to back up, grab a metal bar and protect himself and his nephew.

Saleh is then seen swinging the bar and hitting the man in the shoulder, but the pair still refuses to leave.

Saleh called police, who then came and arrested the pair.

Saleh says he suffered only scratches and bruises from the woman, but said the words flung at him and his nephew struck him deep.

"She kept her racial slurs throughout the incident from A to Z. She knew exactly what she was saying," Saleh said. "They were intoxicated, but they knew exactly what they were doing."

Kasim says he has worked in different grocery stores in rougher neighborhood before, but this incident really shocked him.

"I was just shocked. I mean I never seen something like this with all the racial names that she called us. She started fighting for no reason," he said.

Saleh says neighbors have overwhelmed him with support after hearing about the incident.