Man Gets 18 Months in Prison for Antisemitic Assaults in NY

By Hamodia Staff

NEW YORK — On Friday, March 3, Saadah Masoud was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to a federal hate crime conspiracy charge in a series of three antisemitic assaults in New York City. In addition to his prison term, he was sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Masoud, 29, of Staten Island was arrested in June on charges that at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in April, he attacked a counter-protester who was draped in an Israeli flag.

Masoud and others chatted on an encrypted messaging service to plan on disrupting a pro-Israel rally on May 20, 2021.

He also admitted to attacking in April a person wearing a Magen Dovid necklace, and in May he and an associate attacked Mr. Heshy Tischler, who was wearing a yarmulke.

Masoud, who pleaded guilty in November, was sentenced by Judge Denise Cote, who said she she believed he is a “deeply angry and disturbed person, and his violent attacks were a “betrayal of your family and a betrayal of what you’re telling me your personal values are,” the NY Post reported.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement, “Saadah Masoud repeatedly attacked New Yorkers based on their religion and national origin. The prosecution of this case and the sentence imposed today make clear that hate-fueled violence will not be tolerated in our community and that this Office will be unrelenting in our efforts to hold accountable those who perpetrate senseless crimes of hate.”

Williams praised the New York City Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force and the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for their outstanding investigative work.

Masoud was represented by Ron Kuby, a lawyer who frequently represents radical clients.