A former White House security advisor, Stuart Seldowitz, was caught on camera heckling a halal cart vendor in New York City.
What Happened: Videos circulating on the internet appear to show Seldowitz, who served under the Barack Obama administration, making racially charged comments and threats toward the vendor.
Seldowitz is seen in the videos referring to the vendor as a “terrorist” and chastising him for his lack of English proficiency. Seldowitz also made controversial remarks about the Muslim prophet Mohammed and the Israel-Hamas conflict.
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Seldowitz, previously a deputy director/senior political officer in the U.S. State Department's Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs, was filmed in different attires across the videos, implying that the incidents occurred on separate occasions. Allegedly, Seldowitz has been harassing the vendor at East 83rd Street and Second Avenue for roughly two weeks.
"If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, it wasn't enough," he said in one of the videos
The videos depict Seldowitz threatening to share a photo of the vendor with his “friends in Immigration” and Egypt's security services. He scrutinizes the vendor’s permit and visa, accusing him of being a supporter of Hamas. In a third video, Seldowitz questions the vendor’s legal status in the U.S..
"The bottom line is, yes it's me," Seldowitz told a news outlet after his videos gained social media traction.
After the videos began to circulate, Gotham Government Relations, Seldowitz’s most recent employer, stated it had cut all ties with him. Mayor Eric Adams, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York Attorney General Letitia James all condemned Seldowitz’s actions.
Seldowitz alleges that the videos only show the vendor's side of the story. The two got into a verbal spat after the vendor expressed support for Hamas.
Meanwhile, Israel’s government and Hamas reached a deal to free 50 women and children held as hostages in Gaza in exchange for a four-day pause in fighting. Groups of 12-13 hostages will be released per day, the Times of Israel reported.
Photo Courtesy: BrandonKleinPhoto On Shutterstock.com
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