STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Staten Island man was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison on Friday for three antisemitic attacks that occurred over the course of a year in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Saadah Masoud, 29, pleaded guilty in November to a hate crimes conspiracy count for the three attacks.
Manhattan federal court Judge Denise Cote imposed the term on Masoud, saying she believed he is a “deeply angry and disturbed person,” the New York Post reported.
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“Saadah Masoud repeatedly attacked New Yorkers based on their religion and national origin,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.
“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 said.
According to the Indictment, from around May 2021 through April 2022, Masoud and several other individuals conspired to commit hate crimes throughout the city, going on to assault at least three victims based on their perceived Jewish backgrounds.
In April of 2022, Masoud assaulted a man in Manhattan who was wearing an Israeli flag. In June of 2021, Masoud and another individual assaulted a Brooklyn man who was wearing yarmulke. And, in May of 2021, Massoud assaulted a man in Manhattan who was wearing a Star of David necklace.
On May 19, 2021, Masoud and others chatted online about plans to disrupt a pro-Israel demonstration in Manhattan the following day, the report said.
“I beat the sh-t out of three Zionist[s] yesterday and didn’t even see a jail cell,” Masoud wrote in the chat, according to a sentencing submission filed by prosecutors on the case, the report said.
In addition to his prison term, Massoud was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
Source: silive.com
