3 plead guilty to roles in 2021 attack on Lawrence man during pro-Israel rally in Times Square
Joseph Borgen of Lawrence. Three men have pleaded guilty in connection with an attack on him in Times Square in 2021. Credit: Howard Simmons
Three of the men who assaulted a Lawrence resident heading to a Times Square pro-Israel rally in 2021 have pleaded guilty to their role in the hate crime, records show.
Mahmoud Musa and Mohammed Othman, both of Staten Island, each pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of second-degree assault as a hate crime.
A third man, Mohammed Said Othman of Staten Island, pleaded guilty on Friday to second-degree attempted gang assault and third-degree assault as a hate crime for his role in the May 20, 2021, attack that left Joseph Borgen with multiple injuries, including a concussion, black eye and wrist injury.
All three men were remanded to jail pending sentencing on Oct. 25.
In an interview Monday night, Borgen said the guilty pleas should send a message "that you can't just beat up a Jewish person in the streets of New York City, get a slap on the wrist and get away with it. ... If you do this act, these are the ramifications. This is what's going to happen."
Efforts to reach the defendants' attorneys were not successful.
Prosecutors said Borgen was punched, kicked, pepper-sprayed and struck with a pair of crutches while wearing a yarmulke at the rally.
The attackers shouted anti-Semitic slurs, praised the Palestinian group Hamas, shouted “Go back to Israel" and knocked him to the ground, Borgen has said. Video of the attack went viral and was widely shared on social media. The attack occurred hours after Israelis and Hamas announced the end of an 11-day conflict.
Borgen told Newsday he was en route to the pro-Israel event, alone, and realized he was being chased while walking from the subway.
Suddenly, "they just started wailing on me, punching me, kicking me, assaulting me," Borgen said. He said he covered his head with his hands and "I took the beating."
"I took a bunch of kicks, a bunch of punches," he said.
Musa and Othman each face between 3½ and 15 years in prison while Said Othman is expected to receive a 3-year prison sentence in a separate deal, according to published reports.
"Antisemitism continues to rise and is a stain on our nation's democracy," said Eric Post, Long Island director of the American Jewish Committee. "We are grateful that justice is being served for the perpetrators of the antisemitic attack against Joseph Borgen. Every Long Islander has the right to live free from intimidation and fear because of what they believe."
A fourth defendant, Faisal Elezzi of Staten Island, previously pleaded guilty to third-degree attempted assault as a hate crime, and was sentenced to 3 years probation, records show.
A fifth man, Waseem Awawdeh of Brooklyn, who was filmed beating Borgen with crutches, pleaded guilty in June to second-degree attempted assault as a hate crime and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, records show.
An initial plea offer by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office of six months in jail to Awawdeh sparked the ire of Long Island religious, political and civic leaders.
The case for a sixth defendant, a juvenile suspect, is being prosecuted in Family Court.
Borgen has also filed a civil suit against the assailants.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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