US college student arrested after attempt to remove woman's headscarf

As woman sat to eat, teen squeezed her neck and began forcing her head down toward a table

A 19-year-old Indiana University student was arrested after he attacked a Muslim woman, yelled racist comments and made attempts to remove her headscarf.

While the woman has not been identified, police said she had been dining in the outdoor seating area of a restaurant with her 9-year-old daughter when she was approached by the by 19-year-old Triceten Bickford.

The woman claims that the Bickford was shouting things like "white power," and "kill the police" among other offensive statements about black people. Bickford then squeezed her neck and began forcing her head down toward a table, and tried to get rid of the scarf covering her head according to the police.

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The woman’s husband, with help of a passerby, restrained Bickford until police arrived. Although the woman complained of pain in her neck she did not require medical attention.

It was later revealed that Bickford's blood alcohol content was 0.195, and he has been charged with intimidation, public intoxication, two counts of misdemeanor battery, one count of felony-level battery, strangulation and illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor.

However, Bickford was able to gain "release on bond" from Monroe County Jail after he paid a mere $705 for his release. Later, Bickford apologised to the woman in an interview, saying,  "I'm so sorry to that woman. I have no idea who she is, but words can't explain how much that ... I've never hurt someone like that before."

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He added during the interview that he had no memory of the incident, had been drinking heavily at the time and had not taken his anti-anxiety medication that day.

The matter is being pursued by The Council on American-Islamic Relations which has called for prosecutors to bring bias charges against Bickford. Further, Indiana University called the alleged incident "horrifying" in a Facebook post.

"This type of abhorrent behavior is not representative of our students, nor of the culture of inclusion and tolerance so many people at the university and in the Bloomington community have worked so hard to foster," the post read.

This article originally appeared on CNN