COON RAPIDS, Minn. – (Nov. 19, 2015) – The woman who attacked another woman at the Coon Rapids 
Applebee’s for not speaking English will not be charged with a hate crime. Instead, Jodie Burchard-Risch was charged with assault in the third degree, which is a felony. A hate crime is only a misdemeanor.
With this felony charge, she faces a prison sentence of up to five years if convicted. According to the criminal complaint, Jodie and her husband were dining at Applebee’s last month, when they started yelling at a woman who was speaking Swahili with her dinner guest. As their anger escalated, Jodie got up, went over to the other booth, and smashed her beer mug across the woman’s face, leaving deep cuts on her face and lip. A manager followed Jodie as she fled the restaurant until she was arrested.
