HAYWARD (KRON) — The woman charged in December for shouting insults at Muslim men in an East Bay park entered a plea of not guilty Thursday.
Denise Slader, 50, was caught on video yelling, “your god is satan” at the men as they prayed near Lake Chabot.
Slader is charged with battery and violating their civil rights. She is scheduled to return to Alameda County Superior Court in Hayward on Feb. 26 for a pretrial hearing on charges of battery in a park and violating the civil rights of the two alleged victims in the Dec. 6 incident.
She has been placed on leave from her job with the California Department of Corrections.
Her trial is set for April 4. Judge Andrew Steckler also set the trial date for Slader.
Prosecutor Tim Wellman asked Steckler to set $10,000 bail for Slader because that’s the bail schedule for the two offenses she faces, but Steckler declined to set bail and allowed her to remain free on her own recognizance.
According to East Bay Regional Park District spokeswoman Carolyn Jones, Slader approached the two men as they were praying by the volleyball courts near the park entrance at about 3 p.m. on Dec. 6.
Slader then got into a conversation with the men that escalated into an argument, eventually telling them, “Your God is Satan” and “the Koran is evil,” Jones said.
One of the men started recording her and later posted the video on the Internet.
According to the video, Slader told the men, “The people you torture are going to be in heaven. You are very deceived by Satan. Your mind has been taken over, brainwashed, and you’ve got nothing but hate.”
A park ranger tried to intervene and told Slater that she was being inappropriate, but Slader responded that it was inappropriate for the man to tape her.
Slader later allegedly attacked the man with her umbrella and threw coffee at him.
At a hearing last week, a judge ordered Slader to stay away from the man and to stay away from the park.Bay City News contributed to this report