Jewish victim criticizes Manhattan DA’s plea deal for attacker who threatened to repeat the crime.
Jewish Hate Crime Victim Calls Out Manhattan DA for Lenient Plea Deal
“Why is he getting a break? I really can’t fathom why he’s getting a deal. Me, personally, I wanted to go to trial, I wanted to see full justice,”
Joseph Borgen, the victim of a Jewish hate crime attack, spoke out against Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg for granting a plea deal to his attacker. During the sentencing of Waseem Awawdeh, who assaulted Borgen during a clash between supporters of Israel and Palestinians, Borgen expressed his disappointment with the lenient sentence.
Bragg’s office offered Awawdeh a plea deal of 18 months in prison in exchange for admitting guilt to attempted assault in the second degree as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon. Borgen argued that the sentence is not enough and sends the wrong message to victims of hate crimes.
Lenient Sentencing Amid Rising Crime in New York City
Bragg’s lenient sentence comes as New York City continues to struggle with crime. The city instituted bail reform that is keeping criminals out of prison and reoffending. A handful of thieves who continue to be released are committing one-third of retail crime. The mother of a teenage girl whom a homeless woman pushed onto the tracks in a New York City subway station recently demanded city leadership “do something” about crime in the city.
Violent crime is up in the subway compared with 2020, with 132 felony assaults in the first quarter of 2023. Last year, a black nationalist gunned down 13 people in a Brooklyn subway station.
Bragg’s Controversial Arrest of Former President Donald Trump
Bragg has been the center of scrutiny after his arrest of former president Donald Trump. He was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records surrounding payments to former lawyer Michael Cohen, who allegedly then made hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. Bragg in late April moved to bar Trump from reviewing documents in his case without the supervision of lawyers.
- No one should ever feel unsafe because of their religion
- We do not tolerate the antisemitic hate displayed by the defendant in this case
Despite Bragg’s statement, Borgen argued that the sentence is not enough and sends the wrong message to victims of hate crimes. The plea comes despite the attacker’s comments following his arrest in 2021. “If I could do it again, I would do it again,” Awawdeh allegedly told jail personnel. “I have no problem doing it again.”
It’s time for justice to be served and for victims of hate crimes to feel safe in their communities.
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