New York Waiter Charged Criminally For Playing Arabic Chant at Jewish Wedding

Stephen Buttafuoco, 23, is the subject of a rather curious criminal charge. He was a waiter at a wedding at the Woodbury Jewish Center when the guests suddenly began to hear an Arabic chant praising Allah. Buttafuoco, who aptly lives in West Babylon, New York, insists that he was playing a recording for a friend and did not realize that it was being amplified to the room. He was charged with felony harassment.

Buttafuoco is not Muslim and is the son of a former Marine and pastor in Babylon – Rev. Daniel Buttafuoco of the Gateway Life Center on George Street in Babylon. His son made the recording at a rally opposing the Israeli Gaza offensive where people chanted “Allah Akbar.”

It seems a bit odd that the waiter (who happens to oppose the operation) would not realize that the chant was being picked up by the sound system.

There does remain the question of the necessity of a criminal charge in such a case, however. Originally, the police said that he would be charged with interrupting a religious service, but that charge appeared not to fit the facts.

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