By Social Links forJack Morphet, Social Links forJoe Marino and Social Links forEmily Crane. Media: Nypost
President Barack Obama’s former National Security Council chief Stuart Seldowitz was arrested and charged with a hate crime Wednesday following a since-viral incident in which he spewed an Islamophobic rant at a Big Apple halal cart vendor — who told The Post he wants to sue over the disturbing ordeal.
Mohamed Hussein, 24, said he was still shaken by his recent encounters with the 64-year-old ex-diplomat, who was caught on camera repeatedly harassing the vendor while he manned the Q Halal Cart’s grill on the Upper East Side.
“Yes, of course,” Hussein said when asked if he wants to slap Seldowitz with a lawsuit.
“We want to sue him for harassment and hate speech,” his boss and cart owner, Islam Moustafa, added. “I consider this hate-speech, not freedom of speech.”
Seldowitz was taken into custody at the NYPD’s 19th Precinct on the Upper East Side later Wednesday. He was charged with aggravated harassment, hate crime stalking, stalking with intent to cause fear and stalking at employment, according to police.
In the now-viral videos filmed earlier this month, Seldowitz can be seen unleashing a torrent of abuse at Hussein — including calling him a “terrorist” and asking at one point “did you rape your daughter like Mohammed did?”
Christopher Sadowski
Matthew McDermott
Hussein, who has worked at the cart on East 83rd Street and Second Avenue for the past year, can be heard in one clip repeatedly begging Seldowitz to leave him alone.
“Mohamed’s a little scared, he’s a little worried — especially after finding out this guy used to work for the government,” Moustafa 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,” the cart’s owner added.
“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.”
The former diplomat started harassing Hussein about two weeks ago, the cart owner said, adding he initially thought it 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,” Moustafa said.
X / @itslaylas
Matthew McDermott
In one of the videos, Seldowitz — who was acting director for the National Security Council South Asia Directorate in the Obama administration — asked if Hussein had a visa and threatened to send a photo of the vendor to his “friends in Immigration.”
Hussein, who his boss says moved from Egypt five years ago and is now a US citizen, can be heard telling his harasser: “I am an American citizen.”
In other clips, Seldowitz was filmed holding an Israel pin up to the window of the halal cart while claiming the vendor supports Hamas.
“You support killing young children,” Seldowitz tells him.
“You kill children, not me. Go,” Hussein can be heard responding as he waves him off.
“I didn’t kill children,” Seldowitz replies, adding: “If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, it wasn’t enough.”
X / @itslaylas
X / @itslaylas
Seldowitz, 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, eventually copped to being the man in the videos after they were shared online.
“I did have an argument with a food vendor,” he told City & State late Tuesday. “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.”
Still, Seldowitz denied being “an Islamophobic guy.”
Seldowitz didn’t respond to request for comment earlier Wednesday.
Matthew McDermott
Lobbying firm Gotham Government Relations, where Seldowitz was a consultant, announced it had cut all ties with him after the videos surfaced.
“The video of his actions is vile, racist, and beneath the dignity of the standards we practice at our firm,” the company said in a statement.
Seldowitz was also condemned by Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“Islamophobia is hate. Plain and simple,” Adams wrote on X. “This vile, disrespectful rhetoric has no home in our city. We reject it — and we’re glad to see we’re not alone.”
“This is hateful, disgusting and unacceptable,” Hochul added. “Vile rhetoric like this has no place in New York, and we condemn it in the strongest of terms.”
Additional reporting by Steven Vago
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