Man gets 18 months in prison for antisemitic assaults in NY

NEW YORK (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to a federal hate crime conspiracy charge in a series of antisemitic assaults in New York City. Twenty-nine-year-old Saadah Masoud of Staten Island was sentenced Friday by Judge Denise Cote. Masoud was arrested last June after authorities said he punched and dragged a counter-protester, who was draped in an Israeli flag, at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in April. Prosecutors say he also admitted to attacking a man wearing a yarmulke in June 2021 and a person wearing a Star of David necklace the month before. Masoud defense attorney Ron Kuby said the said the sentence indicated the judge rejected the government’s argument that a traumatized young Palestinian was to blame for antisemitic acts.