Manhattan's District Attorney Alvin Bragg is under fire after offering a plea deal to a man accused of an anti-Semitic attack who said he 'would do it again.'
Waseem Awawdeh, 24, was offered an undisclosed six-month plea deal more than a year after he was arrested on charges of attacking Joseph Borgen, 30, while yelling anti-Semitic slurs.
Awawdeh and a pro-Palestininan group targeted Borgenm, who was wearing a grey kippa, and walking toward Times Square on May 20, 2021.
The suspect faced a seven-year jail sentence and was charged with assault as a hate crime, gang assault, menacing, aggravated harassment as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon.
'If I could do it again, I would do it again,' Awawdeh allegedly said at the time. 'I have no problem doing it again.'
The brutal attack was filmed showing Awawdeh beating Borgenm with crutches before calling him a 'dirty Jew' and pepper spraying him.
State Assemblymember Dov Hikind called out Bragg decision while calling Awawdeh a 'Jew killer.'
'[Bragg] offered Waseem Awadeh a sweet plea deal with a 6mo sentence, despite the fact that the violent Jew-hater said he would try to kill Jews again and showed no remorse,' Hikind wrote on Twitter.
'Awadeh and a mob attacked Joseph Borgen who was seriously injured and feared for his life! Shameful!'
Former New York City judge Jeanine Pirro accused Bragg of forming an 'alliance' with criminals.
'By offering a plea deal in a vicious assault, that’s a hate crime to boot, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg proves his allegiance, not only to criminals, but to those victimized because of their religion and ethnicity,' Pirro wrote.
Awawdeh’s lawyer, Peter Marc Frankel, confirmed the DA’s plea deal offer, which was first reported by the New York Sun.
Kalman Yeger, New York City Councilmember, added that it was 'Open Season on Jews.'