A man who was convicted on Tuesday of stalking visibly Jewish residents in New York City celebrated as he received a slap on the wrist during a sentencing hearing.
Yehia Amin even smiled and flashed a “victory sign” after the ruling over the attack on Oct. 18, 2023, according to a report from Jewish News Syndicate.
He received just 90 days in jail.
Amin pleaded guilty back in March to third-degree assault as a hate crime — a plea which came after an agreement with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
He had initially faced seven charges from the incident nearly three years ago.
He followed a 23-year-old Israeli and four friends — all of whom were wearing kippahs.
Yehia Amin was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 5 years’ probation after pleading guilty to assault as a hate crime for the antisemitic attack on Oct. 18, 2023. https://t.co/SP52fsCP0t
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) September 16, 2026
Amin trailed them for several minutes while threatening them.
Those threats included “Hamas should kill more of you” and “may Allah kill all the Jews,” according to prosecutors, as well as “all Jews should die.”
Amin also punched the Israeli man in the back of the head as they were trying to get away from him, prosecutors argued.
Glenn Richter, who founded the New York Jewish Community Judicial Watch Group, told Jewish News Syndicate that Amin arrived late in court with his mother on Tuesday.
Amin had failed to report in court that morning.
Because he needed an Arabic interpreter, Amin’s sentencing did not occur until the end of the day.
“Mr. Amin, who should have been there in the morning, saunters in in the afternoon, along with his mommy,” Richter described.
Althea Drysdale, a judge in the New York City Criminal Courts, confronted Amin about him grinning in court.
“I see you smiling,” the judge said. “This is a serious matter. Why are you smiling?”
Amin said through interpreters that he wanted to look good for the photographs.
When he was sentenced, Amin appeared to flash two “victory” signs with his hands, according to Richter.
“It’s possible that he thought, listen, there were originally seven charges that were going to be thrown against him, and it was plea bargained down to one charge of third-degree assault as a hate crime,” Richter said.
“Maybe to him this was a victory,” he added.
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