The attacker who slugged a Jewish man for wearing an Israel Defense Forces sweatshirt in Brooklyn was busted Tuesday, cops said.
Suleiman Othman, 27, of Staten Island, was nabbed at 8:50 a.m. Tuesday in connection to the Dec. 26 attack on 21-year-old Blake Zavadsky outside the Foot Locker store on 86th Street near Fifth Avenue.
Othman was charged with assault as a hate crime and aggravated harassment, police said.
Zavadsky was with his friend Ilan Kaganovich, also 21, when two men approached, Zavadsky told The Post a day after the incident.
“They asked us what we were doing in their neighborhood,” Zavadsky said. “They called us ‘dirty Jews.’”
He said they took particular issue with his hoodie that featured the emblem of the Israeli military forces.
“The one who punched me said if I don’t take my sweatshirt off, he’s going to rock me,” Zavadsky said.
“How can you support these dirty Jews?’” Zavadsky said the man allegedly snarled.
When Zavadsky didn’t take off the hoodie, the assailant punched him twice in the face and doused him with iced coffee, he said.
Kaganovich said the pair threatened him if he intervened.
“I can’t believe this happened,” he said. “We should be able to wear whatever we want to wear.”
“You can’t be scared to walk outside and say you’re Jewish,” Zavadsky added, noting that he plans on continuing to wear his IDF hoodie in public. “You have to be proud of who you are and stand up for what you believe — and not be intimidated.”
He was treated at the scene for a laceration, bruising and swelling to the side of his face.
Othman has three prior arrests, for menacing, robbery and endangering the welfare of a child, cops said.
He does not have any previous hate crime busts, police said.
Cops said they had no reports of a second suspect.
