BREAKING: Jacob Burbar charged with hate crime

Jacob Burbar, 60, from West Hempstead, was indicted on aggravated harassment as a hate crime and other charges for calls he allegedly made to a Florida elected official in November 2023 that were threatening in nature and anti-Semitic, Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced.

Burbar was arraigned today before Judge Colin O’Donnell and charged with two counts of second-degree aggravated harassment as a hate crime. He pleaded not guilty and was released to pre-trial services. Burbar is due back in court on May 1. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison.

“This defendant allegedly targeted an elected official in Florida after seeing videos posted on Instagram about the Hamas/Israel conflict and left several messages on her office voicemail with anti-Semitic slurs and horrific threats of violence against the legislator and her family,” said DA Donnelly.

“There is no excuse for spewing vitriol, targeting a person for their ethnicity, or threatening children. NCDA takes acts of hate seriously. Whenever my office receives an allegation that a hate crime was committed, we investigate it thoroughly. If there is evidence to support charges, we will prosecute the offenders.”

According to the indictment and charges, on Nov. 11, around 6:00 p.m., the defendant allegedly called a Florida House of Representatives member’s office and left five voicemails, DA Donnelly said.

In the voicemails, the defendant allegedly used numerous slurs and anti-Semitic language, as well as threatened to kill the legislator and her children.

The defendant was arrested on Nov. 20, in West Hempstead, by the county police dpeartment's Special Investigations Squad. 

The charges are accusations, and Burbar is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.