MARTINEZ — A Hayward man was arrested by New York police just minutes after being sentenced to 364 days in jail for taking and burning a woman’s Israeli flag during a protest.
Christopher Husary, 36, had just been sentenced on Oct. 9 after pleading no contest to robbery and a hate crime in the Jan. 6, 2024 incident when he was arrested by New York police on suspicion of threatening a Jewish person in a subway. Husary allegedly made the threats just days after his preliminary hearing in the robbery case here, court records show.
Husary took the woman’s flag and set it ablaze during a protest and counter protest in El Cerrito, over Israeli military violence in Gaza. Husary was initially charged with arson as well as robbery, but the arson count was dismissed in the plea deal.
Husary read a poem aloud in court the day he was sentenced. The 364-day jail term was supposed to start next January, but his arrest throws a wrinkle in that. He will not receive credit for time served towards that sentence while he is in custody in New York, Contra Costa prosecutors said.
Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton issued a statement Tuesday saying she respects the First Amendment but that Husary’s actions last January went well beyond what is legal.
