Man Indicted for Punching Jew While Making Pro-Hamas Statements in NYC

By Reuvain Borchardt

NEW YORK — A Queens man has been indicted on hate-crime charges for allegedly punching an Israeli tourist in Times Square while making pro-Hamas and antisemitic statements, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Tuesday.

Yehia Amin, 28, is accused of stalking and punching the 23-year-old Israeli tourist while the victim and his friends were walking through Times Square on the night of October 18, eleven days after Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel and killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians and many in barbaric fashion — and took over 240 hostages, triggering the latest Hamas-Israel war.

Allegedly, the victim and four friends, all wearing yarmulkes, were walking up 7th Avenue from 42nd Street, when they passed Amin, who began following them. Amin used his Bluetooth speaker to play music that Amin later described as “Hamas music.” He also made antisemitic and anti-Israeli remarks, including, , “Hamas should kill more of you,” “May All-ah kill you,” “May All-ah kill all the Jews,” and “All Jews should die.”

When the group reached West 47th Street, they tried to report Amin to a security guard, but he continued harassing them. The victim and his friends tried walking toward a nearby train station, but Amin continued following them and made additional statements including, “All Jews are crybabies,” “I want to die for Gaza,” “I want to kill you,” and “I want to kill you for Gaza.” After harassing the group for over 10 minutes, Amin ran up behind the victim and punched him in the back of the head.

Amin fled the scene, but the victim and his friends chased him. A police officer joined the chase and was able to catch up to Amin and arrest him. While under arrest, Amin continued to yell, “I will die for Gaza,” “G-d kill all the Israelis” and “G-d kill all the Jewish people.”

Amin was indicted on two counts each of stalking in the first degree as a hate crime (a class C felony), assault in the third degree as a hate crime (a class E felony), and stalking in the third degree as a hate crime (a class E felony). He is also charged with one count of aggravated harassment in the second degree (a class A misdemeanor).

Amin’s public defender did not immediately respond to Hamodia’s request for comment.

At Amin’s arraignment Tuesday, Judge Althea Drysdale set bail at $40K cash/$100K bond/$150K partially secured bond.

“Violence stemming from hate and discrimination will not be tolerated in Manhattan,” Bragg said in a statement Tuesday. “We will continue working with our law-enforcement partners to hold those that cause harm accountable to ensure Manhattan is a safe place for everyone.”

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recorded a 388 percent rise in antisemitic incidents across the United States in the 17 days starting October 7th, compared with the same period last year. Of the 312 antisemitic incidents recorded in this period, 190 were directly linked to the Hamas-Israel war. By comparison, during the same period in 2022, ADL received preliminary reports of 64 antisemitic incidents, just four which were Israel-related.

According to the NYPD, the total number of antisemitic-crime complaints in New York City rose 214% in October and 32% in November, compared with the same months of 2022.

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rborchardt@hamodia.com