In November, Stuart Seldowitz, a 64-year-old former National Security Council official, entered a plea deal on hate crime charges for racist, anti-Palestinian, and Islamophobic rants against a New York food cart vendor.
Initially pleading not guilty, the deal involves attending a 26-week anti-bias training program, and if adhered to, the charges will be dismissed, as stated by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
The decision to offer training instead of pursuing criminal charges for non-violent, misdemeanor hate crimes is a common practice, according to an email from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to CNN.
This approach aims to address the underlying conduct and enhance public safety.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) strongly criticized the plea deal, referring to it as a “sweetheart deal.” Afaf Nasher, executive director of CAIR’s New York chapter, expressed disapproval, stating, “Seldowitz’s vile verbal abuse and harassment targeting an innocent street vendor were caught on video for all to see.
The sweetheart deal he received from the Manhattan DA’s office is a shameful affront of our justice system and wholly unfitting of his actions.”
CNN reached out to Stuart Seldowitz’s attorney for comment, but no response has been reported.
Seldowitz’s arrest followed the circulation of videos on social media depicting him verbally attacking a food cart vendor on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
In the videos, he insulted Islam, accused the vendor of supporting Hamas, and made disturbing remarks about Egypt’s General Intelligence Service.
The former National Security Council official served as acting director for the National Security Council South Asia Directorate in the early 2000s.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Seldowitz held this position from February 2009 to January 2011 during the administration of former President Barack Obama. However, Gotham Government Relations, a lobbying group where Seldowitz was affiliated, has since severed all ties with him, denouncing his actions as “vile, racist, and beneath the dignity of the standards we practice.”
Seldowitz’s harassment of the vendor persisted for two weeks, as reported by the Street Vendor Project, an advocacy group for street vendors in New York City. Mohamed Attia, representing the Street Vendor Project, clarified that the vendor did not initiate the confrontation with Seldowitz.
This incident occurred amidst a surge in reported anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias incidents since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, according to CAIR. Notably, a week after the Hamas attack, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy was fatally stabbed outside Chicago.
The family’s landlord faced hate crime charges and pleaded not guilty, while three Palestinian college students were shot in Vermont in November, resulting in one being paralyzed.
Stuart Seldowitz is scheduled to appear in court on April 17.
