The NYPD has launched a hate crime investigation against Stuart Seldowitz, the former Obama administration adviser who was filmed this week delivering horrific abuse to a street cart vendor in New York.
According to an association of street vendors, Seldowitz, 64, routinely visited the street cart at 83rd Street and 2nd Avenue, a block from his Upper East Side home.
In three separate videos shared on Twitter, he was filmed threatening the unidentified vendor, asking him if he was a “rapist like Mohammed,” telling him to “learn English so you don’t have to work in a cart” and labeled as a ‘rapist like Mohammed’. ‘terrorist’.
In one, he threatened the man: ‘I’ll send your photo to my friends at immigration.
‘The Mukhabarat in Egypt will get your parents. Does your dad like his fingernails? He will take them out one by one,” he said.
In one of his most appalling remarks, he said: “If we had killed 4,000 Palestinian children, that wouldn’t be enough.”
New York City Councilwoman Julie Menin, the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, announced that he was under investigation by the 19th District
Gotham Government Relations, a New York-based firm, “terminated all ties” with 64-year-old Stuart Seldowitz over the videos. He was filmed harassing the seller three times
Barack Obama’s former National Security Council director says ‘it’s probably me’ who unleashed Islamophobic attack on street vendor, but says ‘I don’t think I’m an Islamophobic man’
Seldowitz apologized last night, telling City and State that he regretted the incident and “shouldn’t have brought up the religious aspect.”
New York City Councilwoman Julie Menin, the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, announced that he was being investigated by the 19th District.
It is unclear exactly what scope Seldowitz served during the Obama administration.
His professional biographies have now been scrubbed from the internet, as have those of his children.
One posted online on the Gotham Government Relations website described him as a former deputy and Middle East adviser to President Obama.
Gotham has now severed all ties with Seldowitz and is offering the seller free assistance in filing a lawsuit against him.
“Gotham Government Relations has terminated all ties with Stuart Seldowitz.
The original video, which lasts more than two minutes, shows Seldowitz speaking to a halal cart vendor, using profanities for Egyptians and then saying that intelligence agents in Egypt will “get your parents.”
Left-wing journalist Matt Binder claimed that Seldowitz served as a State Department agent under five different presidents
“The video of his actions is disgusting, racist and beneath the standards we hold at our company,” the company said.
Representatives of the Obama administration have not yet commented.
In the videos, Seldowitz ignores the man’s pleas to leave and instead stands in front of him and tells him he has a “right” to be there because he is American.
‘Did you rape your daughter like Mohammed? Do not you speak English? That just shows how ignorant you are. Mohammed was a rapist. Mohammed your prophet. You know who he is. He raped Aisha,” he says in a video, referring to an early version of the Sunni hadith that states that the Prophet Muhammad married Aisha when she was six and that the couple “consummated” the marriage when she was nine.
That age range is hotly contested in the Arab world, where many say the early interpretation of age cannot be applied to today’s world. The issue sparked protests in the Arab world last year after an Indian politician called the Prophet Mohammed a pedophile on television.
The street vendor ignored Seldowitz’s comments and instead said he did not speak English.
‘Do not you speak English? That’s why you sell food in a food cart. That’s why you have to learn English; it will help you,” he said.
“If they deport you back to Egypt and the Mukhabarat wants to interview you…” he goes inside.
The seller maintained his composure in all the videos shared online.
‘Do you want to buy something? I’m working now,” he says.
Seldowitz refused to leave, saying, “No, I won’t.
“I’m going to put a big sign here that says, ‘This man believes in Hamas.’ I’m not giving you a cent of my money.
‘I do not want to go. I have the right to be on the sidewalk. You have no right to be here. Do you have a permit?’
When the salesman replied that he was indeed licensed and licensed, Seldowitz said, “But you don’t have a visa?”
He replied, “It’s none of your business.”
Seldowitz responded, “It’s actually my business, I know the guy who does all this.”
In another he says: ‘You are a terrorist. You support terrorism.’
It is unclear how their interactions began, or why he is so convinced of the seller’s ties to Hamas.
Last night, after videos of their interactions went viral, a sign was placed on the cart that read: “The Upper East Side Stands with You.”