A court reportedly ruled Wednesday that a former Obama official must undergo a “26-week anti-bias program” for repeatedly harassing a New York City halal cart vendor.
Former Obama aide Stuart Seldowitz has agreed to complete a 26-week anti-bias program through Queen's Counseling for Change in exchange for prosecutors dropping hate crime charges. Judge Beverly Tatham issued the sentence at the request of prosecutors. according to to the New York Post.
Seldowitz was arrested and charged with hate crimes against a New York City halal cart vendor and was released on supervised release in November. Video showed the former White House security adviser harassing a vendor who did not speak English, calling the unidentified man a “terrorist” and suggesting he was a rapist. (Related: Los Angeles Police Department investigates possible hate crime after someone vandalizes Jewish mural near iconic deli)
“Even if we killed 4,000 Palestinian children, it wasn't enough,” Seldowitz said in the video. “That wasn't enough.”
The newspaper said Seldowitz repeatedly confronted the Columbia graduate student who allegedly filmed the altercation on an Upper East Side street corner over a two-week period. The former Obama official was shown wearing different outfits in various videos.
NEW: Barack Obama's former foreign policy adviser Stuart Seldowitz is caught on camera laughing about the idea of torturing the parents of a halal cart seller.
Islamophobic slurs were used in New York City.
Seldowitz asked the wagon worker if he would “rape” his daughter as follows… pic.twitter.com/jeeuXoD3eQ
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 22, 2023
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office confirmed to the New York Post that the hate crime charges will be dropped if Seldowitz completes an “anti-bias” program without making any new arrests or violating a victim protection order. The 64-year-old suspect attended the hearing but reportedly refused to speak.
Mr. Seredowitz served as deputy director and senior official in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Israeli and Palestinian Affairs in the early 2000s, and served as acting director of the South Asia Directorate on the National Security Council during the Obama administration.
