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An ex-US diplomat and adviser to former President Barack Obama was arrested Wednesday for hurling anti-Islamic remarks at halal distributors in Manhattan, cops mentioned.
Police cuffed 30-year State Division worker Stuart Seldowitz, 66, on fees of harassment and stalking as a hate crime for spewing Islamophobic remarks to distributors on E. 83rd St. close to Second Ave. on Nov. 7, cops mentioned.
Videos posted to social media allegedly depicted the previous diplomat laughing as he requested meals distributors, “Did you rape your daughter like Muhammad did?” and “If we killed 4,000 Palestinian children, you understand what? It wasn’t sufficient.”
Islam Moustafa, who together with companions Yasser Nawar and Ahmed Raki owns the Q Halal cart, mentioned he initially believed their harasser was mentally disturbed.
“It turned extra irritating once I realized he’s an ex-Obama official adviser,” mentioned Moustafa.
Seldowtiz visited the E. 83rd St. meals cart at the very least 4 instances after the preliminary incident on Nov. 7, the meals distributors say. Throughout these visits, he harassed the cart’s employees, together with 24-year-old Mohammed Hussain, in keeping with Moustafa.
“How might somebody in that standing stoop so low in dialog with a 24-year-old?” Moustafa requested.
At one level whereas Hussain was prepping the cart, Seldowitz threatened to report him to his contacts in Egyptian intelligence, Moustafa mentioned.
“The whole lot is on the video,” Moustafa mentioned. “Muhammad repeatedly begged him to depart, however the man endured.”
Gotham Authorities Relations, a city-based lobbying agency that appointed Seldowitz as its Overseas Affairs chair, launched a statement condemning the embattled former diplomat.
“Gotham Authorities Relations has ended all affiliation with Stuart Seldowitz,” the assertion learn. “The video of his actions is vile, racist and beneath the dignity of the requirements we observe at our agency.”
In a biography now faraway from the lobbying agency’s web site, Seldowitz is described as a 30-year State Division veteran who labored as Performing Director for the Nationwide Safety Council South Asia Directorate underneath the Obama Administration and because the three-time recipient of the State Division’s Superior Honor Award.
Previous to his arrest, Seldowitz apologized on the political web site Metropolis and State.
“I remorse the entire thing occurred and I’m sorry,” Seldowitz mentioned. “However you understand, within the warmth of the second, I mentioned issues that most likely I shouldn’t have mentioned.”
Moustafa applauded Seldowitz’s arrest, saying he crossed the road between free speech and hate speech.
“We’d like a very good definition to separate freedom of speech from hate speech. What he mentioned is an excessive amount of for me, and I’m glad the Hate Crime Unit arrested him for additional investigation,” mentioned Moustafa.
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