Man who pleaded guilty to intimidating a pro-Israel protester in California facing hate crime charges for making anti-Semitic threats on the New York City subway

CNN
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A 36-year-old California man has been charged with hate crimes and harassment by the Manhattan district attorney's office after he allegedly threatened a Jewish man on the New York City subway.

This incident occurred on the night of major protests outside an exhibition in Manhattan commemorating the victims of the Hamas attack on an Israeli music festival on October 7 last year.

According to prosecutors, Christopher Husary was on a New York City subway on June 10 when he vandalized a train car door with an anti-Semitic symbol. The victim, wearing a Jewish yarmulke, took a photo of the graffiti – a red inverted triangle – before Husary allegedly demanded that he delete the photo, made anti-Semitic comments and said, “Yo, we got a Zionist here,” and “We “You will be found and there will be consequences,” the DA’s office said.

The Anti-Defamation League notes that Hamas' military wing has used red inverted triangles to mark Israeli military targets in the recent Gaza conflict.

CNN has reached out to Nathan Peterson, an attorney for Husary, for comment.

According to the ADL, there has been a spike in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7.

The latest data from the organization, which has tracked anti-Semitic incidents in the US since 1979, found a 140% increase in incidents from 2022 to 2023, with a “dramatic” increase after October 7. According to the NYPD, 496 hate crime incidents occurred in New York City in the first nine months of 2024, 276 of which involved Jewish targets.

According to the New York City Police Department, the victim exited the subway at the following stop and reported the incident to police nearly two weeks later, on June 22.

New York police arrested Husary in Northern California shortly after he was sentenced to 364 days in county jail and two years of probation after pleading guilty to robbery with a hate crime addendum for using violence and intimidating a woman to kill an Israeli man hand holding flag during a demonstration over the Israel-Hamas war.

He is scheduled to begin his sentence on January 2, according to the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office.

“Everyone has the right to express their beliefs under the First Amendment, and we deeply appreciate those who courageously stood up for their rights despite the defendant’s attempts to silence them,” said Diana Becton, District Attorney of Contra Costa. “The First Amendment does not protect people who threaten others, cause injury, intimidate, or damage property.”