No Jail Slated For Trio Indicted In Brooklyn Anti-Jewish Attacks

NEW YORK - Three men indicted in a pair of anti-Jewish attacks in Brooklyn last year, which include the violent beating of a teenager and chasing another with a cricket bat, evaded jail terms for the time being after changing their pleas to guilty on Wednesday.

Despite a contrary push from the prosecution for harsher sentences, Kings County Supreme Court Judge Danny Chun forecasted that all three men serve five years of probation, noting the defendants' lack of past criminal history, young age and lack of severe injury caused to the victims.

“I do not find that jail is … an appropriate sentence for either of you,” Chun said.

Haider A. Anjam and Danial Shaukat, both 21, were indicted on assault charges in the third degree in connection with harassing Jewish men outside the Agudath Israel of Sixteenth Avenue in Borough Park on May 22, 2021, Chun said. The third man, Ashan Azad, was indicted on aggravated harassment charges in the second degree.

Chun added that he will “seriously consider” early probation after three years should all three maintain good behavior.

According to police records, the men yelled "Free Palestine, we'll kill all the Jews” at four men from a car outside the synagogue around 7:30 p.m. during the first incident. When a bystander went to observe the vehicle’s license plate, one of the men from inside the car said, “you look at my license plate, we’ll kill you next,” court documents say.

It was after the four victims scrambled inside and locked the door that the trio left the car and banged on the front door, according to a criminal complaint. The three also smashed a side mirror of an unoccupied Audi before fleeing, police said.

About ten minutes later near Ocean Parkway, both Anjam and Azad approached two teenagers in traditional Jewish clothing and proceeded to kick one of them several times in the face and body, according to court records. Anjam also placed his hands on the victim’s neck, police said. The assault led to substantial pain in the victim’s face, mouth, neck and head, as well as difficulty breathing, police added.

All three men then proceeded to chase the pair “for several blocks” with a cricket bat, court documents say.

"This behavior does not represent who we are as New Yorkers, and the cowards responsible for these despicable acts are only seeking to divide and intimidate us—but we will never let hate win," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at the time, per Newsweek.

The changed pleas come as the NYPD reports at least 38 anti-Semitic hate crimes so far this year, compared to 56 in 2021. Just five years ago, that number stood at 23.

Much of the defense’s discourse on Wednesday consisted of touting the men’s efforts to be upstanding individuals since the attacks, with Anjam’s attorney Mahmoud Rabah lauding his client’s motivation in school and desire to have a family of his own.

“He’s done everything he’s supposed to do,” Rabah said. “He has a level of responsibility that aligns with probation, and that should account for something … he has a whole life ahead of him.”

Shaukat’s family even relocated him to start anew in Pennsylvania, where he now works as a truck driver, his lawyer Taylor J. Shann said. “My client is willing to admit responsibility and move on,” he told the judge in his request to issue Shaukat community service instead of probation (a probation sentence would halt his ability to work, his attorney said).

“His parents took him out of his life to Pennsylvania to restart his life,” Shann said. “I want him to be able to provide for his family and for himself.”

But while Chun said he weighed the defendants’ good efforts since the pair of attacks, he said he couldn’t discount the harm done to the teen victims.

“No amount of community service will change that,” Chun said, turning down the community service request.

Sentencing is set for Nov. 30.