Former Obama aide Stuart Seldowitz arrested, charged with hate crime over Islamophopic rant
Stuart Seldowitz charged with aggravated harassment, hate crime stalking, stalking with intent to cause fear and stalking in employment, police said
Former White House security adviser Stuart Seldowitz was arrested and charged with hate crime on Wednesday, November 22, after a viral video showed him harassing a halal cart vendor, passing Islamophobic comments, in New York City. Stuart reportedly served under President Barack Obama.
The victim, 24-year-old Mohamed Hussein, said his encounter with Stuart has shaken him. On being asked if he wants to sue Stuart, he said, "Yes, of course," according to New York Post.
"We want to sue him for harassment and hate speech," Muhamed's boss and cart owner, Islam Moustafa, added. "I consider this hate-speech, not freedom of speech."
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Stuart was reportedly taken into custody at the NYPD's 19th Precinct on the Upper East Side, and charged with aggravated harassment, hate crime stalking, stalking with intent to cause fear and stalking in employment, police said.
Stuart was seen in the video calling the Upper East Side vendor a "terrorist" and harassing him for not speaking English. He was also heard suggesting that the Muslim prophet Mohammed was a rapist. Stuart said more Palestinian children should be killed amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
"Mohamed's a little scared, he's a little worried — especially after finding out this guy used to work for the government," Islam said. "How do you ask a little 24-year-old if he ever raped his daughter? He's an ex-government official, he worked for the Obama administration, he's not a nobody."
"How does an ex-government official speak about religion and hatred with that much hatred? A normal person wouldn't do that, but a guy with power and ranking shouldn't be talking like that to a 24-year-old who keeps begging him to walk away," he added.
Islam said that Stuart began harassing Mohamed about a couple of weeks back. He added that he initially thought Stuart was a "homeless guy going through a hard time." "Then I learned it wasn't just one instance, it was three different instances, from an ex-government official who works as an advisor to companies and large corporations," Islam said.
Stuart Seldowitz apologised
Stuart, who also worked as a deputy director/senior political officer in the US State Department's Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs in the early 2000s, denied being "Islamophobic." I did have an argument with a food vendor," he told City & State after the videos surfaced. "It is quite possible that it's me. I mean, I've not seen the video, but I believe it's probably me."
"I regret the whole thing happened and I'm sorry," he added. "But you know, in the heat of the moment, I said things that probably I shouldn't have said."
