A man was arrested in Costa Mesa for threatening another man with a folding knife.

One of the story, via the Associated Press, suggests a hate crime by an American against an immigrant. If we didn't have Google, we might suspect that this Anthony Tabarsi fellow was an Italian-American.

Man allegedly pulls knife on Starbucks customer speaking Arabic

A man was charged with a hate crime for allegedly taunting a customer speaking Arabic at a Starbucks coffeehouse, then lunging at him with a knife in the parking lot.

Anthony Tabarsi, 41, was arrested Monday as he ran from the scene in Costa Mesa, said Deputy District Attorney Scott Steiner.

Prosecutors said Tabarsi walked by the men who were speaking Arabic in the coffeehouse and told them all Arabs are terrorists and he hates them.

Look—American hate crime! You can just see Eric Muller salivating over it.

Now let's try it with some more details, from the local paper:

Sex offender hit with Taser,By KIMBERLY EDDS,The Orange County Register, April 17, 2007

COSTA MESA— A convicted rapist and child molester accused of hurling racial slurs at an Arab man and trying to stab him with a knife outside a local Starbucks appeared in court today....

Tabarsi's latest run in with the law began about 8:30 p.m. Monday, police said, when he walked into the Starbucks in the 2700 block of Harbor Boulevard and noticed a 25-year-old man speaking Arabic to a friend. Tabarsi, who is Persian, hurled racist epithets at the man as he walked back to the restroom....

Tabarsi is also known as Mohammad Hadi Emaitabarsi and Mohammad Emami Tabarsi.

So it seems to be a case of Persian-on-Arab violence, like the Iran-Iraq war, rather than the basic "American hate crime" or "backlash." And the culprit was a guy named Mohammad. In the words of Mark Steyn, writing after the Cronulla Riots in Australia" "These days, whenever something goofy turns up on the news, chances are it involves a fellow called Mohammed. "

This is true, but they don't always tell you his name is Mohammed. And as for the Persian Mr. Tabarsi, one wonders if he's a citizen or not, or if calling him Persian instead of Iranian is meant to say that he's an "American of Persian descent." Would it kill them to give us this important detail? Yes, it would—they're the Associated Press!