A Manhattan court sentenced a man to two years in prison for a 2021 antisemitic attack that was a major hate crime case for the Jewish community.
Salem Seleiman, 30, was the last of six attackers to be sentenced for the beating of Joey Borgen, a Jewish man, on the sidelines of an anti-Israel protest in Times Square.
Seleiman pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to one count of assault in the second degree and one count of assault in the third degree as a hate crime.
“Salem Seleiman took part in the repugnant and bias-motivated assault of a Jewish man who was peacefully attending a rally,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a Friday statement. “The victim was targeted based on his religion and did nothing to warrant physical violence.”
The incident took place around the time of the 2021 conflict between Israel and the Gaza terrorist groups. Seleiman and the other attackers were leaving an anti-Israel protest in Times Square, while Borgen, 29 at the time of the incident, was attending a pro-Israel counter demonstration.
The attackers assaulted Borgen, who was identifiable as Jewish due to his kippah. The assailants chased Borgen down a street, grabbed him, threw him to the ground and repeatedly punched him in the face.
While Borgen was on the ground, the group kicked and pepper-sprayed him, and made antisemitic remarks, including “filthy Jew,” “dirty Jew,” and “fuck Israel.”
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office said Seleiman had kicked Borgen in the face while he was on the ground, and when bystanders attempted to intervene in the attack, Seleiman urged them to leave the scene. Ahead of the rally, the defendants coordinated their plans and discussed how to conceal their identities, Bragg’s office has said.
A Jewish community courtroom observer told The Times of Israel that Seleiman failed to appear at his sentencing hearing on Thursday morning, only showing up hours later. Borgen, who moved to Israel earlier this year, addressed the court by video, describing his ongoing pain that resulted from the beating.
Seleiman made a brief apology before being handcuffed and led to his transport to prison.
The other five attackers have pleaded guilty and been sentenced. Three were sentenced to prison terms last year.
Seleiman had escaped prosecution because he had fled to Florida. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office said it had tracked him down in Florida, extradited him to New York and indicted him last year.
The beating, caught on video, became a flashpoint for the Jewish community and drew national attention.
The court battle that followed led to criticism from Jewish activists that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was being too lenient with some of the defendants. That criticism has dissipated since, following prosecutions for antisemitic attacks.
Jews are targeted in hate crimes far more than any other group in New York City, but hate crime convictions are rare because prosecutors need to prove that bias motivated the incidents, a high legal bar.
