Pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Musa is sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to savagely beating Jewish man Joseph Borgen in 2021 NYC hate crime mob attack

A man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for savagely beating up a Jewish man in 2021 during an unprovoked hate crime mob attack in New York City. 

Joseph Borgen, 31, was brutally beaten by a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators in May 2021, as he made his way to a pro-Israel rally in Times Square while wearing a kippah.

Mahmoud Musa will spend seven years in jail - more than District Attorney Alvin Bragg recommended - for his part in the horrific anti-Jewish beatdown in New York. 

It was at a time two years ago when tensions were flaring up between Hamas and Israel in the Middle East - however, the current war, ignited by the terror attack of October 7, has since eclipsed the violence of the 2021 conflict. 

Violence and antisemitism against Jewish people in New York City have increased since Hamas slaughtered 1,400 innocent Israelis and took over 200 people, including women and children, hostage. 

The sentencing of Musa, therefore, has come at a very contentious time.  

Borgen recalled in his victim impact statement Tuesday in Manhattan Criminal Court: 'I was holding on for dear life, I was in a fetal position, doing anything possible to make it out alive. 

'I thought I was potentially going to die … and not see my family again.

'In my opinion, if the cops did not come and save my life, I would have died — that was [Musa's] goal and the goal of that group.' 

The Jewish man did not exchange any words before he was brutally chased, kicked to the ground, hurled insults at, beaten, and pepper sprayed in broad daylight. 

Judge Felicia Mennin sentenced Musa to seven years in prison plus five years probation on Tuesday. 

The convict apologized to Borgen and the Jewish community, but the victim said: 'I think he was only sorry that he got caught.' 

Barry Borgen, the victim's father, said today: 'I'm glad that they finally realized their mistakes. They see the atmosphere that's infesting New York City with the anti-Israeli protests and antisemitism, they have to crack down, and I think it's just the beginning.' 

Musa's attorney, Lance Lazzaro, had asked for the attacker to be given the minimum sentence because he was 23 - a grown adult - at the time of the ambush.

The attorney also said that he grew up in Brooklyn - in diverse, liberal New York City -  in an atmosphere of having relatives living in Palestinian territories 'like in a prison.' 

Lazzaro also said Musa's father died when he was young, he lived in poverty growing up, and 'never had the proper schooling in order to make him be able to make the right choices.' 

Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Junig asked for more than five years in jail for Musa - because during his custody, he'd allegedly touched a guard at Rikers Island, and had 'not showed any remorse.'

In his own statement in court, Musa said: 'I understand that my behavior was unacceptable, and take full responsibility for my actions and the consequences that followed.'

According to the judge, Musa's 'participation and selection of a random person of the Jewish faith was planned, calculated and intentional.'

The sentence 'has nothing to do with your beliefs, your freedom of speech, your identity or your national origin. It is being imposed [because of your] actions … which will not be tolerated in any civilized society.'

Handcuffed Musa was led away following sentencing. Outside the courtroom, his supporters called the judge a 'racist.' 

Borgen told Hamodia outside court: 'I'm satisfied. I think it was a strong, severe sentence for a strong, severe crime, and it sends a clear message moving forward that hate crimes … won't be treated with a slap on the wrist.'

This marked the third of five defendants' punishments being dished out for the hate crime. 

Faisal Elezzi, who threw two punches at Borgen, pleaded guilty in April 2023, and after a series of other arrests, he was sentenced to 60 days in jail.

Waseem Awawdeh, who was filmed beating Borgen with crutches, calling him a 'dirty Jew' and pepper spraying him, was initially offered a sweetheart plea deal of six months in jail. Mennin rejected the deal, and sentenced him to 18 months in jail. 

Awawdeh infamously said 'I have no problem doing it again' after his arrest, according to prosecutors, adding: 'If I could do it again, I would do it again.' 

The final two defendants who are yet to be sentenced are Mohammed Othman and Mohammed Said Othman. 

In 2021, days after the brutal assault, Borgen spoke out in an interview with DailyMail.com, saying he thought he was going to die after a gang of pro-Palestinian demonstrators assaulted him in Midtown Manhattan. 

Borgen, an accountant who lives on the Upper East Side, was wearing a grey kippa and walking toward a pro-Israel rally in Times Square around 6:30pm when a young man with a black bandana started chasing him.

'I turned around to try to figure out what was going on and the next thing I knew I was surrounded by a whole crowd of people who proceeded to physically attack me, beat me, kick me, punch me, hit me with crutches, hit me with flag poles,' he told DailyMail.com after being released from Bellevue Hospital.

Video of the assault showed Borgen was left defenseless on the ground as he was battered by the angry mob outside of 1604 Broadway. 

'After I wound up on the ground, I was literally just in a fetal position, trying to guard my head and face, literally just trying to make it out of their alive,' Borgen said. 

'I thought I was going to die. I thought I was really going to die.'

Borgen said there were eight to 10 people taking part in the beatdown and they were shouting anti-Semitic slurs such as: 'You filthy Jew. We're going to f*****g kill you. Go back to Israel. Hamas is going to kill you.'

He said the most painful part occurred toward the end, when they pepper sprayed him.

'I thought I was getting urinated on because I felt a stream on my face. They maced me or pepper sprayed me for like a minute straight.'