{{Short description|Palestinian-American activist}} {{Infobox criminal | name = Tarek Bazrouk | citizenship = | education = City University of New York | occupation = Student, activist | years_active = | known_for = | criminal_charge = 3 counts of federal hate crimes | conviction_penalty = 17 months in federal prison<br>forfeiture of $750,000 in cash | conviction_status = Convicted (pleaded guilty) | motive = | conviction = | victims = | locations = | imprisoned = Metropolitan Detention Center }} '''Tarek Bazrouk''' is a Palestinian-American activist. In 2025, he was convicted of federal hate crimes for assaulting Jewish demonstrators at multiple pro-Palestine protests in New York City in 2024 and 2025 during the Gaza war. Prosecutors stated that the attacks targeted individuals because of their Jewish or Israeli identity. Bazrouk pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 17 months in federal prison. His case attracted national attention and support from pro-Palestine activist groups.
==Background== Tarek Bazrouk is a Palestinian-American student at the City University of New York.<ref name="MEE2025" />
==Attacks== Bazrouk was arrested at three separate protests in Manhattan over approximately nine months. According to prosecutors, during these protests he assaulted Jewish protesters who were wearing religious attire or carrying Israeli flags.<ref name="Stack0507" /><ref name="AP0508">{{cite news |title=Pro-Palestinian demonstrators clash with security guards at Columbia University |url=https://apnews.com/article/columbia-pro-palestine-protest-d6963720d50e92f271346d9febb95f18 |access-date=18 December 2025 |work=Associated Press |date=2025-05-08}}</ref>
In April 2024, Bazrouk, wearing a Hamas headband{{Better source needed|reason=This appears in the Times of Israel, which is biased, but not in the NYT. It feels like the sort of thing that would have been mentioned there too if it was verifiable.|date=March 2026}}, scuffled with pro-Israel demonstrators outside the New York Stock Exchange. During his arrest and while being escorted to a police vehicle, he kicked a pro-Israel demonstrator in the stomach.<ref name="Stack0507" /><ref name="Tress0917" />
In December 2024, near Columbia University, two Jewish brothers carrying an Israeli flag started a verbal dispute with Bazrouk at a pro-Palestine protest, according to the NYPD.<ref name="CDS" /> Bazrouk took the Israeli flag from the brothers, calling them "Nazis". When the brothers pursued him to retrieve the flag, Bazrouk struck one of them in the face.<ref name="Tress0917">{{cite news |last1=Tress |first1=Luke |title=Man who attacked Jews in NYC becomes cause célèbre for anti-Israel activists |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/man-who-attacked-jews-in-nyc-becomes-cause-celebre-for-anti-israel-activists/ |access-date=17 December 2025 |work=Times of Israel |date=2025-09-17}}</ref><ref name="CDS">{{cite news |title=NYPD charges suspect accused of punching Columbia student with robbery and hate crime |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2024/12/17/nypd-charges-suspect-accused-of-punching-columbia-student-with-robbery-and-hate-crime/ |access-date=18 December 2025 |work=Columbia Daily Spectator |date=2024-12-17}}</ref> The December attack was condemned by New York Governor Kathy Hochul.<ref name="CDS" />
In January 2025, at another pro-Palestine protest, Bazrouk jostled with a Jewish counter-protester. After being pushed away, he responded by punching the man in the nose.<ref name="Stack0507" /><ref name="Tress0917" />
According to court filings and Bazrouk's plea, all of the victims were identifiable as Jewish, either through religious attire, symbols such as Stars of David, Israeli flags, or participation in Jewish songs. Two of the victims were students at Columbia University. According to a press release by Christopher G. Raia, the assistant director of the New York City field office of the FBI, Bazrouk's phone contained pro-Hamas propaganda and text messages in which he referred to himself as a "Jew hater".<ref name="Stack0507" /> Prosecutors cited these messages as evidence of an antisemitic motive.<ref name="Tress0917" /> Bazrouk told the court during his guilty plea that he carried out the attacks "to express my outrage over Israel's widespread killing and displacement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip".<ref name="Tress0917" />
===Legal proceedings=== On May 7, 2025, Bazrouk was charged with three federal hate crimes.<ref name="Stack0507" /> In June he pleaded guilty to targeting victims for their Jewish or Israeli identity.<ref name="Gilson1028">{{cite news |last1=Gilson |first1=Grace |title=NY man who attacked Jews at 3 pro-Palestinian rallies sentenced to 17 months in prison |url=https://www.jta.org/2025/10/28/united-states/ny-man-who-attacked-jews-at-3-pro-palestinian-rallies-sentenced-to-17-months-in-prison |access-date=18 December 2025 |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=2025-10-28}}</ref> As part of his plea agreement, he forfeited $750,000 in cash to authorities; the source of the funds was not disclosed.<ref name="Tress0917" />
Before his sentencing, Bazrouk served six months at the Metropolitan Detention Center.<ref name="MEE2025" /> On October 23, 2025, he was sentenced to 17 months in federal prison.<ref name="Gilson1028" />
==Reception== Bazrouk's prosecution came amid heightened scrutiny of pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which the Trump administration accused of antisemitism.<ref name="Stack0507">{{cite news |last1=Stack |first1=Liam |title=Man Is Charged With Federal Hate Crimes in Assaults on Jewish Protesters |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/nyregion/nyc-protests-hate-crime-charge-bazrouk.html |access-date=18 December 2025 |work=New York Times |date=2025-05-07}}</ref> According to Reuters, Bazrouk's case was the first time the U.S. Department of Justice brought federal hate-crime charges related to the Columbia University protests.<ref name="Reuters0508">{{cite news |title=US charges NY man with hate crimes over Columbia protests |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-charges-ny-man-with-hate-crimes-over-columbia-protests-2025-05-08/ |access-date=18 December 2025 |work=Reuters |date=2025-05-08}}</ref>
Bazrouk's case became a cause célèbre<ref name="Tress0917" /><ref name="Gilson1028" /> among anti-Israel activist groups in the United States. Organizations including Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement, Within Our Lifetime, Pal-Awda, and Columbia University Apartheid Divest publicly expressed support for Bazrouk. Ahead of his sentencing, these groups encouraged supporters to send letters requesting leniency or to contribute to Bazrouk's commissary.<ref name="Tress0917" /> More than 11,000 people signed a letter asking Richard Berman to allow Bazrouk to complete his sentence under supervised release rather than serve additional prison time.<ref name="MEE2025">{{cite news |title=More than 11,000 sign letter to judge over sentencing of NYC student protester |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/more-11000-sign-letter-judge-over-sentencing-nyc-protestor |access-date=17 December 2025 |work=Middle East Eye |date=2025-10-20}}</ref> After his sentencing, the ''Workers World'' newspaper called for solidarity with Bazrouk and others it called political prisoners.<ref>{{cite news |title=Free Tarek Bazrouk! |url=https://www.workers.org/2025/11/88825/ |access-date=18 December 2025 |work=Workers World |date=2025-11-05}}</ref> Bazrouk also received support from activist Isra Hirsi, the daughter of U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Levine |first1=Jon |title=Ilhan Omar's Daughter Fundraises for Self-Described 'Jew Hater' Who Assaulted Jewish Counter-Protesters |url=https://freebeacon.com/america/ilhan-omars-daughter-fundraises-for-self-described-jew-hater-who-assaulted-jewish-counter-protesters/ |access-date=17 December 2025 |work=Washington Free Beacon |date=2025-10-31}}</ref>
==Aftermath== Seth Mandel argued that pro-Palestinian groups' advocacy for Bazrouk indicated that the movement had the main organizing goal of attacking Jews' freedom of speech, expression, and association.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mandel |first1=Seth |title=Tarek Bazrouk and American Domestic Extremism |url=https://www.commentary.org/seth-mandel/tarek-bazrouk-and-american-domestic-extremism/ |access-date=21 January 2026 |work=Commentary |date=2025-10-29}}</ref>
In November 2025, the twin brothers who were assaulted by Bazrouk during a protest near Columbia University in December 2024 sued Columbia, alleging that the university failed to protect Jewish students after the October 7 attacks.<ref>{{cite news |title=Twin students sue Columbia over claim that University failed to protect them from antisemitism |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/11/20/twin-students-sue-columbia-over-claim-that-university-failed-to-protect-them-from-antisemitism/ |access-date=18 December 2025 |work=Columbia Spectator |date=2025-11-20}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bazrouk, Tarek}} Category:American activists for Palestinian solidarity Category:Living people Category:Antisemitic attacks and incidents in New York City Category:Anti-Israeli sentiment in the United States Category:2020s crimes in New York City Category:City University of New York people Category:Pro-Palestinian political violence Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:American people convicted of hate crimes