Nassau County leaders, advocates denounce plea deal offered to suspect in antisemitic attack
NEW YORK -- Nassau County leaders and community advocates are denouncing a plea deal offered to a man accused in an antisemitic attack.
At a rally Thursday, they called on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to retract the offer.
Waseem Awawdeh was charged in a brutal attack caught on camera in Midtown in 2021.
Joey Borgen, who is from Nassau County, says he was attacked because he was wearing a yarmulke while going to a pro-Israel rally.
Awawdeh was offered a plea deal that includes six months in jail and five years probation.
"We are setting a dangerous precedent. We are sending a dangerous message to those people who would engage in any kind of hate crime that New York City, Manhattan, is going to be lenient," Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said.
READ MORE: NYPD: 2nd suspect charged with hate crime after Jewish man attacked in Diamond District
Two other suspects have been charged with assault as a hate crime. A fourth has also been offered a plea deal.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office says its hate crimes unit made these recommendations following a thorough investigation.