Minnesota Woman Points Gun At Muslim Couple Minding Their Own Business, Gets 45 Days

A Minnesota woman who terrorized a Muslim couple with a gun, for nothing more than minding their own business, was sentenced to 45 days in jail and must attend a “cultural awareness” course, City Pages is reporting.

Nancy Knoble, who had no prior criminal record at the time of the May 2015 assault, pleaded guilty to one felony charge of terroristic threats in December, and was sentenced last week. She was sentenced to 45 days of jail time, but she’ll be eligible for home-release, with an ankle monitor, after 15 days. She’s also barred from having any contact with her victims, won’t be allowed to possess “firearms, ammunition or explosives” during a three-year probation period, and is forbidden from voting.

As KARE (Minneapolis) reported at the time, at about 11:00 p.m. on May 22, 2015, Adley Ohalley and his wife, Worood Abumayaleh were sitting in their car in a residential neighborhood in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove, waiting for their teenage son to come out of a friend’s house.

Nancy Knoble took exception to a Muslim couple being in her neighborhood, and according to Abumayaleh, began pounding on their windows and ordering them out of the car.

“She said ‘you are suspicious in this neighborhood.’ She told me open the window, open the window. We couldn’t do anything. I was frozen.”

Then, according to Abumayaleh, Knoble took things a step further: she produced a gun.

“She pulled the rifle and said ‘open the window or I’ll shoot you guys.'”

The gun Knoble produced turned out to be nothing more than a pellet gun, but the Muslim couple did not know that.

Adley then says that Knoble demanded that he prove that he was in the neighborhood to pick up his son.

“She said, ‘get out of car, you need to prove your son is here’ and I said ‘ok.’ I got out and she put the gun at my back and said ‘walk to the house.'”

Once at the house, the Muslim couple’s son emerged and, apparently, Knoble was satisfied that the family was not up to any terrorist shenanigans. She returned to her home. The couple called the cops.

The couple’s daughter, Mnar Muhawesh, posted about her parents’ ordeal on Facebook.

“I wish I were making this story up but my entire family is quite shaken up from this incident. My mom especially is very traumatized by this and tells me she thought they were going to be killed that night. The police jailed the woman later that evening, and are currently investigating this case… Please, go hug your parents very tight and tell them how much you appreciate and love them, because we just don’t know when it’ll be the last time we see them.”

Police declined to charge Knoble with a hate crime, largely on the basis of technicalities, according to KARE, because she never explicitly made any indication that were actions were motivated by the victims’ race. Instead, prosecutors charged her with three counts of making terroristic threats.

During her sentencing, according to Ray Story, District Court Judge William Koch reminded Knoble that the next time she believes she sees something “suspicious,” she should just call the police.

“Not pick up a rifle and go out to the car, that was just nonsensical.”

Prosecutor Maximillia Utley said that Knoble never showed any remorse for her actions.

Do you believe Nancy Knoble got a fair sentence for her actions against a Muslim couple? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

[Image via Shutterstock/Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department via City Pages]