Feds say NYC man accused of assaulting pro-Israel protesters had $750K cash in a safe

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.

Dalack told the judge Tuesday that the cash would likely be permanently seized by the federal government, and that he could think of “no legal argument to contest the forfeiture.”

He said the cash was likely profit from a Connecticut smoke shop called “Exotic Clouds,” where Bazrouk worked and earned thousands of dollars per week. Bazrouk was arrested in Connecticut in 2024 and charged with operating a drug factory, federal prosecutors said in a court filing urging he be detained pending trial. They said law enforcement seized seven pounds of marijuana from the store and accused Bazrouk of operating a business that illegally sold marijuana products.

State court records in Connecticut list Bazrouk as a criminal defendant, but the documents in the case are sealed.

Dalack argued that the fact that Bazrouk did not use the cash to flee after he was charged with crimes in state court should weigh in his favor. He added Bazrouk gave law enforcement agents the combination to the safe and has no access to the cash currently.

In a filing arguing for Bazrouk to be released, Dalack argued that the charges are overblown. He wrote Bazrouk is not accused of carrying weapons during the dates in question and is not accused of seriously injuring anyone.

He noted that Bazrouk was already handcuffed by police in April 2024 when he allegedly kicked a pro-Israel protester and was “facing jeers and insults from pro-Israel counterprotesters while he was being dragged to a police vehicle.” He also noted that Bazrouk turned himself in for another one of the alleged assaults and has been free on bail in the state case without issue.

Dalack and Adelsberg said Tuesday the state charges he faces likely won’t move forward until after the federal case is resolved.