Former US govt. official arrested for harassing halal food vendor, faces hate crimes charges

ISTANBUL (AA) – Stuart Seldowitz, a former Obama administration adviser, who was captured on video making threats and Islamophobic comments against a Muslim food vendor in New York City, has been arrested and faces hate crimes charges, local media reported.

Seldowitz, 64, faces charges including aggravated harassment and several counts of stalking, the New York Times reported citing police sources.

In one of the videos circulated on the internet, Seldowitz calls the vendor a “terrorist” and yells at him:
”You support terrorism. You support killing little children. You’re a terrible person,” Seldowitz says.

The vendor replies, saying: “You kill children, not me.”
Before leaving, Seldowitz says: “If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, you know what? It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough.”

In another video which was taken during an evening encounter with the same vendor, Seldowitz speaks about “his friends in immigration” and says “the Mukhabarat wants your picture,” referring to Egypt’s intelligence agency.

Wearing a green hoodie, he says: “The Mukhabarat in Egypt will get your parents. Does your father like his fingernails? They’ll take them out one by one.”

The vendor responds with “Go, go.”

Seldowitz then picks up his phone and appears to take a photo of the vendor, telling him to “smile for me.”

Refusing to leave the area, he makes blasphemous insults.

The vendor says he does not speak English, but Seldowitz continues his offensive bullying and Islamophobic diatribe.

“That’s why you’re selling food in a food cart, because you’re ignorant. But you should learn English. It’ll help you when they deport you back to Egypt and then the Mukhabarat wants to interview you.”

In another video, he harasses the same vendor but is interrupted by a bystander who tells him to leave, saying “It’s not right; you are harassing.”

Seldowitz served as the director for the National Security Council South Asia Directorate under the Obama administration. He also worked as a senior political officer in the State Department’s Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs.

‘Vile actions’

On Tuesday, Gotham Government Relations, a lobbying firm based in Washington, D.C., announced that it has severed ties with Seldowitz after the videos surfaced.

“Gotham Government Relations has ended all affiliation with Stuart Seldowitz, an individual who hasn’t contributed to our work in years. The video of his actions is vile, racist and beneath the dignity of the standards we practice at our firm,” it said on X.

The co-owner of the halal food cart in New York City whose employee was racially by the former Obama administration official said he was “shocked” to learn of the harasser’s background.

Islam Moustafa said Stuart Seldowitz, who worked in the US Department of State’s Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs from 1999 to 2003 and later at the National Security Council during the Obama administration, approached and verbally harassed the 24-year-old street cart vendor in three separate encounters.

The incidents come amid an increase in cases of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias since October 7, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

He said one of his customers called the police, but they didn’t show up. The food cart worker later called the police himself, but the response he received was “this is normal, and he should do the same to the guy when he shows up again.”

“I feel bad for him that he has that much hate inside him,” Moustafa said.

Speaking through a translator, Mohamed Hussein, who was harassed by Seldowitz, said he feels tired and “cannot smile to customers” like he used to after the incidents.