As judge gives him 90 days for attacking Jews in Times Square, man flashes ‘victory sign’

Yehia Amin was sentenced to 90 days in jail on Tuesday for attacking an Israeli tourist and stalking kippah-wearing Jews in Times Square in October 2023. Amin pleaded guilty in March to third-degree assault as a hate crime under a plea agreement, reducing seven initial charges. During sentencing, Amin smiled and made what observers interpreted as a “victory sign.”

“I see you smiling. This is a serious matter. Why are you smiling?”

Amin stated he was smiling for photographs. Glenn Richter of the New York Jewish Community Judicial Watch Group called the sentence a “slap in the wrist,” while another participant, Brian Chenensky, considered it a “miracle that he got sentenced.”