Gill Parker Payne, 37, of Gastonia, North Carolina, was flying from Chicago to Albuquerque, New Mexico last September, when he approached the Muslim passenger.
“Take this off! This is America,” the man yelled before taking the hijab off of her head and exposing her hair, federal authorities said.
The woman, only identified as KA, later told officials that she felt “violated” by the discriminating act.
Payne pleaded guilty to his crime - one count of using force or threat of force to intentionally obstruct a Muslim woman in the free exercise of her religious beliefs, the US Department of Justice announced in Friday statement.
“I saw that KA was wearing a headscarf. I was aware that it is a religious practice of Muslim women to wear a headscarf,” Payne said in the plea agreement, adding that he had no prior contacts with the victim.
Payne now faces a year in prison and may have to pay up to $100,000 in compensation.
“No matter one's faith, all Americans are entitled to peacefully exercise their religious beliefs free from discrimination and violence,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.
"Payne now faces a year in prison and may have to pay up to $100,000 in compensation."
“Using or threatening force against individuals because of their religion is an affront to the fundamental values of this nation, and the Civil Rights Division will continue to be vigilant in protecting the religious liberties guaranteed to all Americans,” the statement added.
The incident comes in a time when harassment against American Muslims has surged amid questionable campaign rhetoric of some presidential candidates.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, for example, has proposed a ban on Muslims from entering the US while also suggesting that they should be tracked by special IDs.
His former rival Senator Ted Cruz of Texas also drew criticism after calling on authorities to step up their policing of Muslim neighborhoods.
The FBI and other US law enforcement agencies have long been flying surveillance aircraft over Muslim communities in the US, Press TV reported.
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