By Servet Gunerigok
WASHINGTON (AA) - Stuart Seldowitz, a former Obama administration adviser, agreed to a plea to undergo "anti-bias" training to avoid jail time for threats and Islamophobic comments against a Muslim food vendor in New York City.
Seldowitz, 64, was charged in November with aggravated harassment, hate crime stalking, stalking causing fear and stalking at a place of employment.
He reached the plea deal Wednesday.
If Seldowitz completes the 26-week anti-bias course at Queens Counseling for Change (QCC), has no new arrests and no violations of an order of protection, prosecutors will move for adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office confirmed to Anadolu.
The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) on Thursday condemned the "sweetheart deal" Seldowitz received.
"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," CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher said in a statement.
Seldowitz served as the acting director for the National Security Council South Asia Directorate under former US President Barack Obama. He also worked as a senior political officer in the State Department’s Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs in the early 2000s.
- Vile videos
The former official sparked anger after videos surfaced last year that showed him harassing a Muslim vendor.
In one video circulated on the internet, Seldowitz called the vendor a "terrorist" and said: "You support terrorism. You support killing little children. You’re a terrible person.”
The vendor replied: "You kill children, not me.” Before leaving, Seldowitz said: "If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, you know what? It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough."
In another video which was taken during an evening encounter with the same vendor, Seldowitz talks about "his friends in immigration" and said, "The Mukhabarat wants your picture," referring to Egypt’s intelligence agency.
Wearing a green hoodie, he said: "The Mukhabarat in Egypt will get your parents. Does your father like his fingernails? They’ll take them out one by one."
The vendor responded, telling him to, "Go, go, go."
Seldowitz then picks up his phone and appears to take a picture of the vendor and tells him to "smile for me."
Refusing to leave the area, he makes insults against Prophet Muhammad and asks the vendor: "Did you rape your daughter like Muhammad did? Did you rape your daughter like Muhammad?"
He later referred to Prophet Muhammad as a "rapist."
The vendor said he does not speak English but Seldowitz continued his harassment.
"What do you speak? You speak Arabic, the language of the Quran, the holy Quran that some people use as a toilet. What do you think of that, people who used the Quran as a toilet? Does it bother you?" he asks mockingly.
"That’s why you're selling food in a food cart, because you’re ignorant. But you should learn English. It’ll help you when they deport you back to Egypt and then the Mukhabarat wants to interview you,” said Seldowitz.
In another video, he harasses the vendor but is interrupted by a bystander who tells him to leave. "It's not right; you are harassing," he said.
*Michael Hernandez contributed to the story