“Officers also found an airsoft gun, brass knuckles, three knives and spent shell casings from an actual gun.”
What was he planning to do with all that?
“Bazrouk’s defense attorney, Andrew Dalack, told Berman that the cash recovered was likely profit from the 20-year-old’s job at a smoke shop in Connecticut.”
That’s an awful lot of money to make. What’s his salary at the smoke shop? Does he own the place? If he does, how did such a young man get the money to acquire it? And is it really that enormously profitable?
“About $250,000 was in a separate compartment that took authorities more than a week to access.”
Why would profits from a legitimate business be so carefully hidden away?
“Feds say NYC man accused of assaulting pro-Israel protesters had $750K cash in a safe,” by Ben Feuerherd, Gothamist, May 21, 2025:
Law enforcement officers searching the Manhattan apartment of a man accused of assaulting three pro-Israel demonstrators at protests found $750,000 in cash in a safe, prosecutors said in court Tuesday.
Of that, about $250,000 was in a separate compartment that took authorities more than a week to access, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel Adelsberg. Officers also found an airsoft gun, brass knuckles, three knives and spent shell casings from an actual gun at the apartment where the man lives with other family members, Adelsberg said.
On Wednesday, Judge Richard Berman ordered Tarek Bazrouk, 20, to be held in jail while he awaits trial on hate crime charges for what prosecutors say are a series of assaults at protests in the city from April 2024 through January 2025. In the order, Berman concluded Bazrouk is a flight risk.
Bazrouk was arrested multiple times as protests over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza broke out in the city. He was charged by federal prosecutors on May 7, the same day dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters occupied Columbia University’s main library on campus. When the charges were announced, an official from the Trump administration’s Justice Department said it showed the feds’ commitment to combating antisemitism in the United States.
“Under Attorney General Pam Bondi’s leadership, we will use all available resources to investigate and charge those who target and assault others because of their faith,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a statement at the time.
Bazrouk faces three federal hate crime charges. He has pleaded not guilty. According to court filings, Judge Berman asked authorities to jail Bazrouk last week, until lawyers could answer his questions about the seized cash.
Bazrouk’s defense attorney, Andrew Dalack, told Berman that the cash recovered was likely profit from the 20-year-old’s job at a smoke shop in Connecticut. But he said it is no reason to hold him in jail.
“There’s nothing about the money that makes him not bailable, particularly since it’s been seized,” Dalack added in an email to Gothamist Tuesday. “We hope to have him home soon.”
Federal prosecutors said Bazrouk kicked and punched pro-Israel demonstrators at three separate protests in the city. Bazrouk faces a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison for the three hate crime counts. State prosecutors previously charged Bazrouk with two counts related to the alleged assaults at the protests….
WPM says
A million dollars in cash in a 20 year old man’s apartment with bass knuckles ,shell cases ,the money “earned” by this fine young gentleman’s business a smoke shop? I hope the HLS ,FBI, ATF , and IRS look closely at all the statuses of this mostly peaceful protestor. Will the local democrats in NYC try to paint him as a Moslem victim for his Islamic right to violently attack American Jewish citizens of the city of New York ?
Taffy says
A very strange case indeed. Is he a US citizen? Is he, his imam and mosque part of a terror cell? Why was he labeled a flight risk?
The Bail Reform Act of 1984 allows pretrial detention if “no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required.” The government bears the burden of proof to demonstrate flight risk, usually by a preponderance of the evidence. The judge could’ve made his decision on the high probability of conviction combined with Bazrouk‘s access to financial resources or foreign contacts. The judge should then give the defense the option of a very speedy trial to minimize the impact of the detention should he be found guilty of lesser charges or found not guilty. Maybe the judge didn’t like the defense attorney’s answer of where the money came from. The brass knuckles, the Airsoft gun, knives and spent shell casings, without more, are irrelevant to the charges against him or any bail consideration, provided that he is a US citizen.
somehistory says
When and where did he fire the weapon? Are the authorities asking that?
Savings of 750 thousand….did he contribute to paying the bills at his home? How long has he been employed at the very profitable “smoke shop”? (does he smoke? Infidels have been assaulted by mozlums for the act of smoking and for owning/operating such places)
If he had been employed since birth, he would have had to save 37,500 each year to have that much ‘in a safe.’ Is my math accurate?
His terrorism is being funded; and his lawyer….(they always have lawyers, don’t they?) wants him “home.”
WPM says
The IRS ,RICO money laundering ,HLS is he a foreign or American citizen terrorist ,drug dealing or drugs at the “smoke shop beside what it is license for possible illegal tax stamps on tobacco products ATF ,possible illegal money transfers from overseas FBI .By the way just smuggling under tax tobaccos products from other states with fake NYS tax stamps is a common crime in NYS cigarettes cost with NYS tax on them close to twelve dollars a pack in some state you can get the same pack for 4 dollars you can see the profit with hundreds of cases with fake NYS tax stamps .Every year many Arab store owners are caught working this trade in the city .
OLD GUY says
He sounds like a terrorist to me.
WPM says
The number of alphabet agencies that should investigate this mope is at least a half dozen with all the red flags. The best results in my opinion is to see who his handlers are ,who is backing him follow up the chain as far as you can go .He is only a foot soldier we want to get the generals .