Ex-Obama aide arrested over anti-Islamic insults to food cart worker

An ex-aide to former President Barack Obama reportedly has been arrested by New York City police after social media videos surfaced showing a man making anti-Islamic statements to a food cart worker.

Stuart Seldowitz, 64, is facing preliminary charges of aggravated harassment and multiple counts of stalking, according to multiple news reports.

Seldowitz reportedly worked at the State Department and the National Security Council under Obama. He confirmed to CNN the man in the videos was him.

Seldowitz was arrested in connection with a series of videos where he is accused of making anti-Muslim statements while berating a 24-year-old food cart vendor in the Upper East Side.

One video showed a man saying the vendor supports the Hamas terrorist group and that he “prays to a criminal,” referring to Muhammad.

The arrest comes as incidents of hate speech have been growing.

FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress recently there are “historic” levels of antisemitism and incidents targeting the Jewish community since the Israel-Hamas war began. 

Advocacy groups say the number of Islamophobic incidents in the U.S. has also spiked