News

Man arrested after beach tirade at Muslim family

Alexander Jennes Downing was arrested charged with public intoxication May 3 after threatening a Muslim family. The incident was caught on video.

A man from Waterford, Connecticut, was arrested in South Padre Island in Texas last week after going on a tirade directed at a Muslim family.

San Antonio Express-News reported that Noria, whose family asked that that their last names not be used for safety reasons, posted a video of the tirade on YouTube and gave background on the incident in the video's description.

>> Read more trending news

According to Noria, who was in town for a family reunion, two women were being harassed by Alexander Jennes Downing, 35, so they asked Noria’s father for help.

"All my father said to the guy was, 'Please enjoy your time and have fun and let everyone else here enjoy their time.' The guy seemed to listen and walked away," Noria wrote, according to WTIC. "He then came back to my father and started throwing racist comments.

“He was yelling so loud that my uncles and my brother came over from the water to see what was going on. The insane man came close to the kids and that's when my uncle stood up to him and defended us and the kids, including my 4-year-old cousin, 4- and 2-year-old nephews.”

The video, uploaded to YouTube, contains expletive-laced footage of some of that interaction.

Noria said that her family contacted police and were told to call them again should he continue the harassment.

“We went back to playing in the water and sand; then the insane man came back with even more aggressiveness and more racial slurs,” she wrote.

Downing can be heard in the video saying, “You will never ever, ever, ever stop me," he tells the family. "My Christianity will rise above your Sharia law. Guess what? ISIS don't mean (expletive) to me, (expletive).”

He repeatedly yells “Donald Trump” to the family and then says, “Donald Trump gots you (expletive). My country is the greatest country in the world.”

“We called 911 again as you may be able to hear on the video. ...  The police then came back and they arrested the man at the hotel restaurant. When we spoke to the hotel management, they said they couldn't do anything at the time because he is in police custody and that if they see him, they will evict him.”

Ahmed, another member of the family, told San Antonio Express-News the video was posted so that Downing would be charged with public indecency because of the explicit gestures they said he made toward the family.

Downing was arrested May 3 and charged with public intoxication, San Antonio Express-News reported.

A South Padre Island Police Department incident report said Downing “was intoxicated in a public place and was a danger to himself and others,” according to the San Antonio Express-News.