Man Arrested After Hate Speech Incident at Halal Cart

NEW YORK -- Police made an arrest Wednesday after several videos of a man spewing hateful rhetoric at a halal cart worker went viral.

It happened at an Upper East Side food cart on Second Avenue and 83rd Street.

Stuart Seldowitz, 64, is facing multiple charges, including aggravated harassment, hate crime and stalking.

Seldowitz had been a career State Department official, and also worked in the Obama administration as acting director for South Asia in the National Security Council.

Police said Seldowitz is the one seen in several cell phone videos going on hateful rants at the Adam Halal Food Cart.

In a video, Seldowitz is seen saying, "I'm gonna put big signs here that say, 'This guy believes in Hamas," "You're a terrorist, you support terrorism," and "If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, you know what, it wasn't enough."

Through a translator, Mohamed Hussein, 24, said Seldowitz was not a customer but came over to ask him where he was from, and when he replied Egypt, his translator says, "The guy started telling him, you're supporting Hamas."

Hussein then started filming. The video doesn't show the initial encounter.

CBS New York attempted multiple times to contact Seldowitz, who claimed to other news outlets that Hussein expressed support for Hamas, which upset him. Hussein denies this allegation.

"We would prefer if he came and apologized instead of trying to twist the story," said Islam Moustafa, co-owner of the cart.

"We have no issues with anyone. Don't try to create problems. Lives could be lost because of something like this," said Yasser Nawer, part owner of the cart.

Nawer doesn't understand why Seldowitz keeps coming back to provoke a reaction during a time of heightened tensions over the Middle East conflict.

"I don't know what you're trying to do or say. The situation is already very tense, we don't need more fuel to the fire," he said.

However, the incident at the food cart seems to have brought people together.

"Most of our customers are Jewish. [Two customers] made a cake for us last night," said Bahaa Hassan, a worker at the cart.

Neighbors set up a table next to the cart, encouraging people to sit down and eat together.

"They are truly wonderful people who care about the community they are in, and they definitely don't deserve this," said Stephanie Merabet, a resident of the Upper East Side.

Since the Israel-Hamas War began on Oct. 7, there has been a significant increase in reports of antisemitic and anti-Muslim incidents.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has revealed a startling surge in antisemitic incidents in the United States, with a staggering 316% increase in the month following the recent war compared to the same period last year. The ADL, a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating antisemitism and extremism, documented this alarming rise in their latest report.

Meanwhile, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has also been monitoring the situation. Although specific figures were not provided in the news, CAIR has observed a concerning trend in antisemitic incidents as well.