A “boozed up” Yonkers man who attacked a Jewish barber with his own scissors in a shocking antisemitic attack last year faces six years in prison after reaching a plea agreement with a Westchester County judge.
Ahmed al Jabali, 34, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault as a hate crime last week in connection with the August 29 assault on Yonkers barber Slava Shushakova over the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, prosecutors said Monday.
Shushakova told The Post after the attack that Jabali was having his beard trimmed at his Yonkers Avenue shop when he erupted, telling the barber that “he has a right as a Muslim to punish Jews.”
Jabali, a Muslim from Yemen, was arrested and charged with attempted murder.
On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to the lesser assault charge, and the judge promised him a six-year sentence. According to state law, the charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.
“Hate has no home in Westchester County,” said county District Attorney Susan Cacace in a statement released Monday. “The rise in antisemitic hatred over the last few years is disturbing and totally unacceptable.
“Today and every day, my office stands with the Jewish community of Westchester and will seek justice for victims of antisemitic violence,” according to a statement.
Shushakova, according to police, required 30 stitches to close the bloody gashes on his right hand and wrist sustained during the attack, which temporarily took him out of work.
“Thank God he didn’t touch my face because he tried to hit me in different ways,” he said in a previous interview. “This is how I stopped him, with my hands.”
The barbershop attack occurred during an Israeli military counteroffensive in the Gaza Strip following a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Jabali is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge James McCarty on May 29.
