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Student Hailed as Hero for Restraining Man Who Attacked Muslim Woman at Indiana Cafe

When Indiana University student Daniel Boyes witnessed a racially motivated attack on a Muslim woman in a cafe, he immediately jumped into action to restrain the attacker, who is a fellow student.

"I didn't really think about it when I was doing it," said Boyes, 21. "I just did it because somebody needed help." 

Boyes was walking near the cafe in Bloomington, Indiana, on the way to watch a friend perform in a dance recital Saturday evening when he witnessed another man yelling "white power" and "I'm going to kill them all." Boyes assumed he was drunk or on drugs and kept walking.

Soon after, the man walked up to a Muslim woman in the cafe, who was sitting with her 9-year-old daughter. The man continued to yell racial epithets and then shoved the woman's head toward the table, restricting her breathing and trying to take off her head scarf, according to the police report.

That's when Boyes jumped into action. He pulled the man off the woman and put him in a chokehold on the ground. The woman's husband then joined Boyes in restraining the man until the police arrived.

Court records show that Triceten D. Bickford, the 19-year-old student accused of the racially motivated attack on the Muslim woman, faces multiple felony charges for his actions, including intimidation, strangulation and battery. He was released on $500  bond and returned to class Monday.

Bickford told NBC 5 affiliate WTHR in Indianapolis he has no memory of the incident and that a combination of drinking alcohol and not taking anti-anxiety medication caused him to snap. He said he is not a hateful person.

"I am so sorry to that woman," Bickford said. "I have no idea who she is, but words can't explain how much that ... I've never hurt someone like that before." 

Tim Boyes, Daniel's father, described his son as quiet and unassuming and not one to start a fight. Daniel Boyes, a Valparaiso native, didn't even tell his father about his heroic actions, but he and his sister, who also attends Indiana University, told him to read the student newspaper, which named Boyes as a hero, the next day.

"To one extent it makes you want to cry because you are so proud of him," Tim Boyes said. "It's like I guess we did do something right. Very proud." 

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