By Emmy
November 5, 2025
Tarek Bazrouk
Tarek Bazrouk, a 20-year-old Palestinian student living in New York City, was sentenced to 17 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for a phony “hate crime” charge on Oct. 28. His name, message and spirit have been defamed by Western Zionist-backed corporate media.
On May 7, the FBI reportedly raided the home of Bazrouk and his family for eight hours. The FBI detained Bazrouk on a federal “hate crime” charge and sent him to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, where he was held without bail for six months before his official sentencing. The “hate crime” charge was related to three incidents over the span of a year where Bazrouk was involved in physical altercations with hostile Zionists at pro-Palestinian demonstrations, resulting in his arrest each time.
However, these charges were pending in state court and scheduled to be dismissed until the FBI stepped in and took absolute authority, resulting in a federal charge. The sentencing took place in the U.S. District Court in downtown Manhattan and was administered by U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman.
Bazrouk is a City University of New York student who was just weeks away from receiving his associate’s degree in marketing before being detained. At 20 years old, he is just beginning his life journey and is beloved by his family, friends and community. In various actions in New York he has displayed unwavering support for his people, who have been facing genocide for the past two years and colonial occupation since 1948. Bazrouk has courageously demonstrated steadfast support for resistance organizations in West Asia, such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Various New York City organizations called for court support on the day of his sentencing to show firm solidarity with Bazrouk and all political prisoners. That day they set up tables with flyers about cases of other political prisoners, including Leqqa Kordia, Jakhi McCray and Casey Goonan, who have faced similar state-sanctioned violence. Hundreds of people packed multiple rooms at the District Court, showing overwhelming support for Palestinian liberation. Only a small number of Zionists were present at the courtroom.
It is the duty of anti-imperialists in the West to uplift Bazrouk and all political prisoners who take action to display their solidarity with Gaza and all nations facing Western imperialism. It is the duty of the movement to organize rallies, actions and community events to spread their message. However, it is not our duty to publicly criticize our comrades, despite ideological differences, on the actions they have taken. To defeat our enemy, we must stay unified on the front line.
To show your support for Tarek Bazrouk right now, you can:
– Add money to his commissary.
– Send him literature from Amazon and/or Barnes & Noble (paperback only).
– Write to him (black and blue ink only) (refrain from including sensitive information).
– Post words of encouragement on social media.
– Organize and attend actions to uplift our political prisoners.
Any and all details can be found @freetarekbazrouk on Instagram!
Free Tarek Bazrouk!
Free Casey Goonan! Free Leqqa Kordia! Free Jakhi McCray!
Free all political prisoners!
