Tarek Bazrouk, a self-professed "Jew hater" who joined in anti-Israel protests on the Columbia University campus and has been indicted on federal hate crimes charges, allegedly had a direct link to the Hamas al-Qassam Brigades militant group, according to federal documents.
Bazrouk, 20, was "a member of a chat group that received regular updates" from the official spokesperson for the brigades, Abu Obeida, the documents state, marking the first evidence of a protester getting information directly from Hamas and taking action, reports The New York Post Wednesday.
He was not a student at Columbia and is an American citizen, born and raised in New York.
However, Bazrouk often wore a green headband like those worn by Hamas terrorists and often bragged to friends about having relatives overseas who were members of the group, the federal information filed with the court in his case says.
Bazrouk, while on the Columbia campus during the April 2024 protests, allegedly texted a friend to say that he'd lit a flare and thought about setting someone on fire but there were "too many" people around for him do that.
He was arrested next to the campus in December 2024 on one of the charges in the three attacks.
Meanwhile, it was not made clear how Bazrouk was able to get onto private university property, but Columbia was also flooded by mask-wearing anti-Israel protesters during the 2024 protests.
The school called the New York Police Department that April to remove the protesters.
NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said at the time that "professional outside agitators" were connected to the protests, which led to the takeover of one of Columbia's buildings.
The university said it has no record of Bazrouk being on campus and insisted that he is "not affiliated with our University in any way." The school further said it "strongly condemns antisemitism."
Hamas has reportedly taunted Israeli hostages and "bragged about having Hamas operatives on American university campuses, showing one now-freed hostage, Shlomi Ziv, pictures from the Columbia protests, a lawsuit claims.
Federal prosecutors also said that Bazrouk’s cellphone was “littered with pro-Hamas and pro-Hizballah [sic] propaganda" that showed he supported "organizations that have murdered thousands of Jews and Israelis, killed and wounded US citizens, and repeatedly avowed that they want to destroy both the United States and Israel."
They also reported finding a picture of late al-Qassam Brigades founder Yahya Sinwar, the person credited with masterminding the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Sinwar was killed in 2024.
The phone also had photos of Obeida, who is credited as the architect behind the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre against Israel. He was killed in 2024.
They also found text messages, including ones where Bazrouk allegedly called himself a "Jew hater," said Jews are "worthless," and called on Allah to "get us rid of Jews."
Prosecutors further alleged that Bazrouk had traveled to the West Bank and Jordan for about three weeks during September and October 2024.
Andrew Dalack, his defense attorney, rejected the federal authorities' claims that he had connections with Hamas.
Bazrouk was jailed in May after allegedly punching Jewish people during several attacks in New York City. Each of the three counts against him carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.