Hate crime charge

A man accused of threatening an offduty Muslim police officer previously commended for heroism is facing a hate-crime charge. The Brooklyn district attorney’s office says 36-yearold Christopher Nelson was arraigned on a felony charge of menacing as a hate crime. Authorities say the officer, Aml Elsokary, who was wearing a Muslim head covering, encountered a man yelling and pushing her 16-year-old son in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. When she intervened, the man referenced Isis and threatened to slit her throat. City officials hailed Elsokary as a hero in 2014, after she ran into a burning building to save a baby.