Masked protester accused of harassing Jewish man on NYC subway read poem in court on prior hate crime case: report
A Hezbollah garb-wearing protester accused of hatefully harassing a Jewish straphanger reportedly read a poem aloud before he was sentenced in another antisemitic hate crime case.
The bizarre poetry reading by Christopher Husary, 37, unfolded in a California courtroom in October, when he faced the music for stealing and burning a woman's Israeli flag during a protest — and moments before he was arrested on a warrant out of New York City, The Mercury News reported .
Husary has since been extradited to the Big Apple, where police said he spewed antisemitic vitriol at White Plains lawyer Joshua Savitt on a subway train in June.
Savitt exclusively told The Post Thursday that he was pleasantly surprised to learn about Husary's arrest and this week's expected arraignment on attempted hate crime and harassment charges in Manhattan court.
"Disagree with people all you want, but treat people decently," he said.
"It's really not that hard to accost people. It's just not."
Savitt crossed paths with Husary after he attended a downtown Manhattan exhibit memorializing the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, Nova Music Festival terror attack.
A mob of anti-Israel protesters chanting "Long live the Intifada" swarmed outside the exhibit and, afterward, filled the subway train that Savitt took from Fulton Street, he told The Post.
One masked protester wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the Hezbollah terror group's flag spotted Savitt wearing a kippah, or religious head-covering, and singled him out, the lawyer said.
"Yo, we've got a Zionist here," the protester said, Savitt recounted.
The protester grew angry as Savitt took photos and taunted, "Bro, if you only knew who I was."
The Post later unmasked the threatening hooligan as Husary, a self-described activist with a history of arrests at protests and who lived with his parents in their $1.8 million home.
Husary claimed that Savitt was the aggressor because he took photos.
"I don't threaten Jews," he said.
But Husary has faced accusations of menacing Jewish people other than Savitt.
In January, he attacked a woman, snatched her Israeli flag and set it on fire during a El Cerrito, California protest, according to reports and a criminal complaint.
He had copped a no-contest plea to robbery and theft charges, along with a hate crime enhancement, on Oct. 9 — nearly a year after the Nova Music Festival massacre carried out by Hamas.
A week later, Husary did his personal poetry slam, received a 364-day sentence and was arrested by members of a fugitive task force. The Mercury News report didn't elaborate on what poem Husary read, or if he wrote it himself.
The rabblerouser was held without bail as he was extradited to New York to face the hate crime case in his subway run-in with Savitt, court records show.
Husary was scheduled for arraignment Thursday in Manhattan court, but the proceeding was delayed over a paperwork issue.
— Additional reporting by Joe Marino