A Chicago-area man convicted of confronting a woman over her Puerto Rican flag T-shirt was sentenced to probation Monday.
Timothy Trybus, 63, was convicted last month on a hate-crime charge over his actions at a Cook County park. He told a judge Monday he was “extremely embarrassed” over the incident.
He was placed on probation for two years and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.
The Des Plaines resident was brought to trial after being caught on video berating Mia Irizarry on June 14, 2018, at Caldwell Woods. Irizarry was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the Puerto Rican flag.
Trybus, who had been drinking alcohol at the time, questioned Irizarry’s citizenship and said: “You should not be wearing that in the United States of America.” Puerto Rico is a U.S. commonwealth and Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens at birth.
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Irizarry testified that she feared for her safety during the incident. Trybus’ lawyers said his client’s behavior “wasn’t hateful as much as it was stupid.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
