‘Jew hater' Columbia protester pleads guilty to 3 antisemitic hate crime assaults yet issues apology to Palestinian community

Yahoo

a day ago

The self-described 'Jew hater' Columbia agitator who has alleged ties to a Hamas group chat pleaded guilty to a string of hate crimes targeting Jewish people, yet only asked for forgiveness from the Palestinian community.
Tarek Bazrouk, 20, admitted to violently assaulting three Jewish people between April 2024 and January 2025 at several Manhattan protests of the war in Gaza, but used his chance to speak in Manhattan federal court to apologize not to Jews, but to the Palestinian community.
'I am sorry. I am Palestinian and I participated in the protest to display my outrage… I should not have used violence. I hope my family and community can forgive me,' Bazrouk said on Wednesday.
The hollow apology stands in stark contrast to the fervor Bazrouk embodied while committing the targeted attacks against Jewish people during protests at Columbia University and in downtown Manhattan.
On April 15, 2024, the 20-year-old kicked a man wearing a kippa in the chest as he stood with an Israeli flag and sang a Jewish song during a demonstration near the New York Stock Exchange. Bazrouk assaulted two other individuals during that same demonstration, according to prosecutors.
Several days later, Bazrouk said he would 'boom boom boom' the next Jewish person he saw, text messages revealed.
He then punched another kippa-wearing man in the face while the victim carried an Israeli flag during a protest on December 9, 2024, prosecutors said.
The confessed antisemite punched yet another Israeli flag-bearer in the face at a protest earlier this year on January 6, according to court testimony.
Bazrouk has no affiliation with Columbia, but was an outside agitator who joined the campus protests. The university said it has no record of him ever being on campus.
Following his May arrest for the assaults, federal officials discovered more insidious evidence after searching Bazrouk's Manhattan home, where he lived with his parents and several other family members.
Investigators seized four knives, a replica firearm, brass knuckles, $750,000 in cash in a safe, and Bazrouk's cell phone, which revealed chilling text messages.
Bazrouk was 'a member of a chat group that received regular updates from Abu Obeda,' which is linked to Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades militant group, The Post revealed earlier this month.
In text messages, the 20-year-old described himself as a 'Jew hater,' called Jewish people 'worthless,' and exhorted a friend to 'slap that bitch' in reference to a woman who had an Israel flag sticker on her laptop, court documents revealed.
The 'Jew hater' further claimed to a friend that he was proud some of his family members were fighting with Hamas overseas, text messages showed.
Lawyers for Bazrouk rejected any connection between their client and the terror organization.
The $750,000 in cash was seized by the government, with Bazrouk agreeing to its forfeiture.
Judge Richard Berman advised the hateful brute that he faces a maximum sentence of five years behind bars, two years supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
Berman added that Bazrouk could also be forced to pay restitution to his victims.
Bazrouk will have a sentencing hearing on October 1.
He still has two pending cases in state court for the incidents in December and January.