Stuart Seldowitz was charged with aggravated harassment, hate crime/stalking, stalking at a place of employment and stalking causing fear.
A former adviser for the Obama administration was arrested on several charges Wednesday after he was seen engaging in racially motivated confrontations at a halal cart in New York City, The Messenger has learned.
Stuart Seldowitz was charged with aggravated harassment, hate crime/stalking, stalking at a place of employment and stalking causing fear, an NYPD spokesperson told The Messenger.
“There is a report on file for Aggravated Harassment at the northeast corner of 2 Avenue and 83 Street within the confines of the 19th Precinct,” the spokesperson said in a email. “A 24 year-old male victim stated to police that an individual approached him at his work place multiple times and made anti-Islamic statements multiple times on different dates causing the victim to feel afraid and annoyed.”
The vendor, employee Mohammed Hussein , had reportedly filed a complaint of aggravated harassment with police.
The exchanges were caught on camera in a series of videos, where Seldowitz appeared to make racist comments about Hussein’s Egyptian heritage and Islamic faith.
“You support killing little children. If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, you know what? It wasn’t enough,” Seldowitz appeared to say in one video.
Seldowitz was subsequently fired from his job with Gotham Government Relations following the incident.
He told an ABC News producer that he overreacted and regrets what he said, but maintains he did not threaten or intimidate anyone.
