Stuart Seldowitz, a former Obama staffer, was accused of committing a hate crime after he abused a halal cart vendor in New York City. As a result, he was put on supervised release.
On Thursday, Stuart Seldowitz, 64, was charged with two charges of hate crime stalking and one count of aggravated harassment.
Seldowitz oversaw the National Security Council under President Barack Obama.
He worked for the US State Department in the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs in the early 2000s as well.
On social media, videos of Seldowitz’s nasty outbursts directed at 24-year-old food vendor Mohamed Hussein because of his Muslim faith and Egyptian ancestry became extremely viral.
By the time of his arrest, the abuse had allegedly been occurring for several weeks.
This man wearing a green jacket was berating and harassing a halal cart vendor off 83rd and 2nd Ave in NYC. Does anyone know who this man is? Planning to report to the authorities. pic.twitter.com/GwklyXpsPH
— layla, lmsw (@itslaylas) November 21, 2023
his harassment of the Halal Cart vendor at 83rd and 2nd ave has been ongoing for two weeks.
NYPD has been called multiple times, local precinct stated that “there is nothing they can do because it is free speech”. pic.twitter.com/6LYL40TTFK— layla, lmsw (@itslaylas) November 21, 2023
During Seldowitz’s arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Jordan Gwynn reportedly told the court that Seldowitz’s actions were “unprovoked and unwarranted,” as per a New York Post article.
Though Seldowitz’s outbursts at the vendor contained alarming information, Seldowitz’s lawyer, Scott Bookstein, contended that his client is “not a warmonger and an Islamophobe.”
“He’s a peace-loving person, devoid of hate from Muslims or anyone else,” Bookstein said, acknowledging that the allegations contained “a lot of ugly words,” according to the Post.
“I want the court, the prosecution, the media and the public to know that the allegations attributed to my client are 100% antithetical to who Stuart Seldowitz is — what his core beliefs are,” Bookstein claimed.
As he was leaving the courthouse, Seldowitz refused to respond to inquiries from the media.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was able to obtain a comprehensive protective order barring the former Obama official from being near Hussein.
The lobbying firm where Seldowitz worked, Gotham Government Relations, severed all relations with him when the recordings went viral. The business said in a statement that his acts were “vile, racist, and beneath the dignity of the standards we practice at our firm.”
Although the man’s remarks were abhorrent, dirty, and repulsive, he had every right to express them without facing consequences!
