“Take it off! This is America!” Payne, 37, later recalled saying. When she didn’t do it herself, Payne did: He grabbed the hijab from the back and pulled it all off. Violated, the woman, identified by the Justice Department only as K.A., quickly pulled the hijab back over her head.

On Friday, as part of a plea deal with the federal government, Payne pleaded guilty to obstructing the woman’s exercise of her religious beliefs. “Because I forcibly removed K.A.’s hijab, I admit that the United States can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that I intentionally obstructed K.A.’s free exercise of her religious beliefs,” he said in a written statement in the plea agreement.

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Payne awaits sentencing. Typically, the maximum penalty under the law for the offense is one year in jail and a fine of up to $100,000, but under the agreement the federal government agreed to two months of home detention, a to-be-determined probation and a possible fine.

“No matter one’s faith, all Americans are entitled to peacefully exercise their religious beliefs free from discrimination and violence,” Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said in a statement. “Using or threatening force against individuals because of their religion is an affront to the fundamental values of this nation.”

FBI data show that hate crimes against nearly every group fell from 2004 to 2014, The Washington Post’s Chris Ingraham reported last year. Anti-Muslim hate crimes are the only exception, remaining nearly unchanged: There were 156 in 2004 and 154 in 2014.

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The Bridge Initiative, a Georgetown University research project focused on Islamophobia, found in a report this month that anti-Muslim violence and vandalism rose last year to from 154 to 174 reported incidents. The 2015 incidents included 12 murders, 29 physical assaults, eight arsons, nine shootings or bombings, and 50 threats against people or institutions.