Overview
- U.S. District Judge Richard Berman imposed 17 months in prison and three years of supervised release on Tarek Bazrouk for federal hate-crime assaults on Jewish counter-protesters.
- Bazrouk pleaded guilty in June to targeting victims for their Jewish or Israeli identity in three incidents in 2024 and early 2025, including outside the NYSE, near Columbia University, and at a Manhattan rally.
- Prosecutors sought a 36-month term above the 12–18 month guideline range, and the judge said assaults based on someone being Jewish would likely result in jail.
- Supporters had urged leniency in a 250-page submission with more than 11,000 signatures, but victims addressed the court and one said he did not believe Bazrouk showed genuine remorse.
- Investigators cited phone and social-media messages showing antisemitic bias and praise for extremist groups, and authorities seized $750,000 in cash that Bazrouk forfeited under the plea agreement.