New York DA offers plea deal to anti-Semitic assault suspect who allegedly said he would 'do it again'
Waseem Awawdeh, 24, was charged with assault as a hate crime, gang assault, menacing, aggravated harassment
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to a report, the district attorney in New York has offered a plea deal to a suspect who attacked a Jewish man in 2021. The suspect has since said he would "do it again."
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is offering a plea deal to Waseem Awawdeh, 24, for his alleged role in beating Joseph Borgen, 29, with crutches, punching, kicking and pepper-spraying him, according to the New York Sun.
The reported six-month plea deal comes after Awawdeh told one of his jailers he would repeat the assault — saying, "If I could do it again, I would do it again," according to a prosecutor at Awawdeh’s arraignment hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I have no problem doing it again," he added of the attack that took place last year near Broadway and West 49th Street.
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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg at the NY District Attorney's office to face charges on September 08, 2022, in New York City. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
Awawdeh was charged with assault as a hate crime, gang assault, menacing, aggravated harassment as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon in the 2021 attack and faced a maximum of seven years if convicted of the charges.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mahmoud Musa, Faisal Elezzi and Mohammed Othman were also charged in the attack, which was unprovoked, prosecutors told Judge Kathryn Paek in 2021.
During the assault, Awawdeh allegedly called Borgen a "dirty Jew," said, "F–k Israel," and said, "Hamas is going to kill all of you."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Borgen shared his recollection of the attack, including his injuries.
"I felt a liquid being poured on my face, and at first, I thought I was getting urinated on," Borgen told The New York Post in 2021.
Joseph Borgen, a recent victim of a hate crime, speaks during a rally denouncing anti-Semitic violence on May 27, 2021 in Cedarhurst, New York. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
People listen to Joseph Borgen, a recent victim of a hate crime, speak during a rally denouncing anti-Semitic violence on May 27, 2021 in Cedarhurst, New York. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
"But it turned out I was getting Maced and pepper-sprayed. My face was on fire," he said at the time. "That pain was worse than the concussion and all this other stuff that followed."
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Borgen also explained he was concussed, had injuries on his arm, and was sore "all over" his body.
"I had an X-ray on my wrist. It’s not broken, but it’s messed up. Every time I move it, it’s in pain, probably sprained," he recalled at the time. "I have bruises all over my body. I have a black eye. My face is banged up. I’m just sore all over my body. They were kicking me in my ribs, my stomach."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Post reported Awawdeh’s lawyer said "no decisions have been made" on the woke D.A.’s offer.