The Uber passenger facing hate crime charges for allegedly pepper-spraying a Muslim driver in Manhattan is Jennifer Guilbeault, a 23-year-old former PR professional who lost her job following the incident.
Guilbeault, a Manhattan College alumna, was recently indicted on two counts of assault as a hate crime and aggravated harassment, stemming from the July attack on her rideshare driver, Shohel Mahmud.
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Dashcam footage captured the moment Guilbeault leaned forward from the back seat and sprayed Mahmud, a 45-year-old father of three, in the eyes with pepper spray.
Her friend, visibly shocked, can be heard questioning her, asking, “Jen, what are you doing?” Mahmud later claimed that Guilbeault’s assault was racially motivated, as she reportedly referred to him as “brown.”
According to Mahmud, the assault took place just as he began a prayer in Arabic while stopped at a red light on the Upper East Side.
Guilbeault’s employer, D Pagan Communications in Melville, New York, where she had recently begun her public relations career, swiftly terminated her after the incident.
Debra Pagan, the agency’s president, stated the company’s disapproval of Guilbeault’s actions in a post on X (formerly Twitter) in August,