A Manhattan man with alleged ties to anti-Israel terror groups has been indicted on federal hate crime charges after authorities say he violently assaulted three visibly Jewish victims at pro-Israel demonstrations over a nine-month span.

Tarek Bazrouk, 20, was arrested Wednesday morning and now faces three counts of hate crimes, each carrying a potential 10-year prison sentence. The indictment was unsealed in the Southern District of New York, with Bazrouk set to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron later today.

According to prosecutors, Bazrouk carried out a campaign of targeted violence between April 2024 and January 2025, repeatedly attacking Jewish individuals at public protests related to the Israel-Gaza war. Authorities say each assault was premeditated and motivated by a virulent hatred of Jews.

In a chilling series of attacks laid out in the indictment, Bazrouk is accused of kicking a Jewish college student in the stomach near the New York Stock Exchange while wearing a green headband associated with Hamas; punching another student in the face at a protest near a Manhattan university; and, just weeks later, deliberately tripping and then punching a third victim—who was draped in an Israeli flag—in the nose on East 18th Street.

Despite being arrested after the first two attacks, Bazrouk allegedly returned to the streets undeterred.

“This was not random violence—it was targeted, ideological, and deeply hateful,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “The defendant allegedly assaulted these individuals solely because they were Jewish. We will not allow our city to become a place where religious identity puts people at risk.”

The FBI, NYPD, and federal prosecutors described a disturbing portrait of the accused. A forensic search of Bazrouk’s cellphone revealed messages in which he referred to himself as a “Jew hater,” praised Hamas, referred to Jews as “worthless,” and celebrated having family members involved in Hamas. His phone was reportedly filled with pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah propaganda.

“These attacks were not only assaults on individuals, but on the fundamental right of all New Yorkers to express their faith without fear,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “Antisemitism will not be tolerated in this city—not in word, and certainly not in violent action.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)