A Florida man involved in the brutal caught-on-camera beating of a Jewish victim in Times Square became the sixth and final defendant sentenced in the disgrace, landing two years behind bars Thursday.
Salem Seleiman, 30, was sentenced after he admitted to joining the hate-fueled mob who pummeled victim Joseph Borgen during clashes between Israel and Palestinian supporters in Midtown on May 20, 2021.
Seleiman was arrested on a warrant in May 2024 for the hate-crime attack.
“Salem Seleiman took part in the repugnant and bias-motivated assault of a Jewish man who was peacefully attending a rally,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “The victim was targeted based on his religion and did nothing to warrant physical violence.
According to prosecutors, Seleiman, of Tampa encountered Borgen, who was wearing a yarmulke, and was part of the group of men that hurled antisemitic slurs such as “dirty Jews,” “filthy Jew” and “f–k Israel.”
Borgen, who was 29 at the time of the attack, was thrown to the ground, punched, hit with a crutch and pepper-sprayed, prosecutors have said.
Video of the vicious beating later went viral on social media.
While good Samaritans tried to intervene and protect the victim, Seleiman urged onlookers to leave before he kicked Borgen, according to prosecutors.
Selieman pleaded guilty to assault in the second degree and assault in the third degree as a hate crime in September.
Five other attackers have already been convicted and sentenced for their role in the attack, including Mahmoud Musa, who was slapped with the heaviest prison sentence of seven years in November 2023.
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