Columbia protester and self-proclaimed ‘Jew-hater' had direct link to Hamas' terror cell, disturbing phone records reveal: DOJ
A 'Jew-hater' who protested against Israel on Columbia University's campus and contemplated setting a student on fire allegedly had a direct link to Hamas' deadly al-Qassam Brigades militant group, The Post can reveal.
Tarek Bazrouk — awaiting trial after being indicted on three federal hate crimes against Jewish people — was 'a member of a chat group that received regular updates from Abu Obeida,' the official spokesperson for the brigades, according to allegations in federal documents.
The accusation is the first evidence of an agitator receiving information directly from Hamas and taking action during protests on the university campus.
Bazrouk, 20, who was not a Columbia student, also frequently wore the green headband used by Hamas terrorists and boasted to friends about having relatives overseas who were part of the terror group, prosecutors claim in a letter filed with the court.
While on Columbia's campus during protests in April 2024, Bazrouk allegedly texted a pal saying he lit a flare and considered lighting someone on fire, but that there were 'too many' people around for him to take on, otherwise he 'would've hurted [sic] them.'
Columbia University said it has no record of Bazrouk being on campus and wanted 'to be clear that this individual is not affiliated with our University in any way,' adding that the school 'strongly condemns antisemitism and violence, and we are horrified by the violence and hate crimes described in the indictment.'
Bazrouk, a US citizen born and raised in New York, was also arrested next to the campus in December 2024 for one of the three attacks against Jewish people of which he stands accused.
It is not clear how Bazrouk got on campus, which is private university property, but Columbia was beset with anti-Israel protesters shielded by masks throughout 2024, resulting in the NYPD being called to flush them out in April that year.
At the time, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said 'professional outside agitators' were behind the escalated protests, which at one point saw an illegal takeover of one of the university's buildings.
In Gaza, Hamas has previously taunted Israeli hostages by boasting that its tentacles are everywhere and 'bragged about having Hamas operatives on American university campuses,' specifically showing now-freed hostage Shlomi Ziv photos of antisemitic protests at Columbia, according to a lawsuit.
Bazrouk's cellphone was 'littered with pro-Hamas and pro-Hizballah [sic] propaganda' showing his 'support for organizations that have murdered thousands of Jews and Israelis, killed and wounded US citizens and repeatedly avowed that they want to destroy both the United States and Israel,' federal prosecutors allege.
The phone was found to have a picture of a late al-Qassam Brigades founder, terrorist Yahya Sinwar, who is credited as the architect behind the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre against Israel. He was killed in 2024.
He also had a picture of Obeida and one of an individual waving a Hamas flag, and an al-Qassam Brigades meme, which reads: 'By God I would not trade the Al Qassam Brigades for the world and everything in it. May God be pleased with them and allow them to break the wicked enemy through him.'
Also included are quotes from text messages in which Bazrouk allegedly identified himself as a 'Jew hater,' labeled Jews 'worthless,' exhorted 'Allah' to 'get us rid of [Jews],' called an acquittance a 'F—ing Jew,' and told a friend to 'slap that bitch' in reference to a woman with an Israeli sticker on her laptop, according to court documents.
Bazrouk also told a friend that he was 'mad happy' to have learned that certain of his family members overseas are part of Hamas, the filing claims.
Prosecutors also claimed that Bazrouk had traveled to the West Bank and Jordan for approximately three weeks in September and October 2024, which also poses questions regarding what he was doing there.
Federal prosecutors told The Post they could not go into more detail than what was included in their indictment against Bazrouk, as they build their case against him.
Bazrouk's defense attorney, Andrew Dalack, told The Post he rejects any connection between his client and Hamas, or any other terror organization, but did not comment further.
Bazrouk's alleged crime streak stretches back to the same month as the Columbia building takeover. On April 15, 2024, he allegedly assaulted three Jewish people at a Gaza war protest outside the New York Stock Exchange.
During that incident, Bazrouk allegedly lunged at a group carrying Israeli flags, according to the federal filing, and as he was being hauled away by cops, he allegedly kicked a Jewish college student in the stomach.
In a text message four days later, he wrote that if he 'ever see(s)' a Jewish person, he is going to 'boom boom them,' according to prosecutors.
He is also accused of slugging a Jewish Columbia University student in the face while allegedly ranting about Hitler and the Nazis in an unhinged flag-snatching tantrum near the Ivy League campus on Dec. 9.
The victim in that ordeal, 22-year-old Jonathan Lederer, told The Post at the time that Bazrouk allegedly stole his brother's flag and then hit him for trying to intervene.
One month later, Bazrouk again allegedly targeted a protester with an Israeli flag draped on his shoulders at a protest near Union Square on Jan. 6, according to prosecutors.
Bazrouk, who was wearing a keffiyeh on his face, allegedly punched the victim in the face with a closed fist.
Although Bazrouk was arrested after all three instances, he 'remained undeterred and quickly returned to using violence to target Jews in New York City,' according to US Attorney Jay Clayton of the Southern District of New York.
Bazrouk has been in jail since May 7 this year, after feds charged him with three hate crimes over the string of alleged antisemitic attacks. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted.
At the time of his arrest, federal agents searched Bazrouk's Manhattan home — where he lived with his parents and other family members — where they found a replica firearm, spent shell casings from a real gun, brass knuckles, and several weapons including four knives, including a switchblade which was in the pocket of one of his jackets and a hunting knife, per court documents.
Investigators also found $750,000 in cash in a safe. At a May 20 bail hearing, Dalack said the money was likely profit from his job at Exotic Clouds, a smoke shop where he worked in Hartford, Connecticut.
He was arrested in that state in December 2024 for 'operating a drug factory,' possessing drugs and having an intent to sell them. Federal documents detail how police also found 'large quantities of marijuana products' worth $25,000 at the business.
Prosecutors argued that Bazrouk should be denied bail because he is allegedly a 'danger to the community and risk of flight … underscored by his support for terrorist groups, his avowed hatred of Jews, his history of violent threats and intimidation, including of a Jewish child at a New York City School, and his access to numerous weapons.'
Bazrouk's actions are far from unique, according to Jewish groups. The lawsuit filed on behalf of former Hamas hostage Ziv and others names several groups it accused of having 'acted as Hamas' foot soldiers in New York City and on Columbia's campus.'
Many similar accusations have been made against groups across the nation that have staged protests on campuses in favor of Palestinian causes — with many people not realizing they are throwing their support behind terror groups.
'We know groups in the USA have shared and promoted content from Hamas-run chat groups. We see this at protests around the country that have Hamas or Hezbollah flags,' warned Oren Segal, the Anti-Defamation League's SVP for counter-extremism and intelligence.
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