Indian American Man Fired for Allegedly Pasting Anti-Semitic Posters and Harassing Jewish Man in New York City

A video allegedly showing anti-Semitic harassment by an Indian American man has cost him his job. Kurush Mistry, an oil analyst with Stamford-based Freepoint Commodities was fired last week when a now-viral video on X showed him and his wife, Shailaja Gupta, covering up posters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, replacing them with anti-Jewish ones, and harassing a Jewish man who objected their actions. The incident happened on Nov. 9 in New York City, near 68th Street and Riverside Boulevard.

The viral video was first posted on X by conservative journalist Andy Ngo and Sonam Mahajan, who describes herself as a “political observer with a special focus on AfPak conflict, human security, women’s rights, and incidents and casualties of jihadism.” It showed the couple concealing photos of civilians kidnapped by Hamas and displaying signs reading “occupiers face consequences.” They also allegedly harassed a Jewish man, instructing him to “return to his country.” 

Mahajan adds in her post on X: “The woman goes so far as to identify herself as a Palestinian and accuses all Israelis of being rapists, claiming she has already proven so in her papers. The Jewish man in the video had encountered the duo on Nov. 9, tearing down posters of Israeli civilians kidnapped by Hamas and replacing them with the ones saying Israelis deserved it.”

She assures her Jewish friends that “Ms. Gupta does not speak for the vast majority of Hindus. She is a vile person who also frequently makes disparaging remarks about Hindus, targeting their religious beliefs. We have no idea who these two are friends with or what their motivations are, but they appear pretty desperate and need to be made accountable for their actions.”

The video of the incident quickly went viral on the internet, igniting discussions about anti-Semitism and hate speech in the city. It is not clear if the New York Police Department has issued a statement regarding potential charges or any further actions.

Freepoint Commodities mentioned Mistry’s firing in a LinkedIn post. Without taking his name, the post noted that the company “is committed to fostering a culture of mutual respect and tolerance. Noting that while they “welcome the diversity of views and opinions held by our employees,” the company “does not tolerate discrimination and hate speech directed against any group. We are aware of the recent antisemitic incident reported on social media, and the individual involved is no longer associated with Freepoint.”

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Mistry worked at Freeport for the past nine years, his LinkedIn profile said. Before joining the company, he worked at Morgan Stanley Capital International, Barclays Capital, and the Lehman Brothers. Mistry graduated from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad in 2003. He also holds a certificate from The Institute of Chartered Accountants in India. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Madras.

His wife, Gupta has been working as a visual artist, filmmaker and emerging tech strategic consultant for the past 29 years. She describes herself on her LinkedIn profile as a “creative and marketing professional with 20 years of experience in trans-media design, digital and social media marketing, interactive strategy, e-commerce, franchise building, syndication and merchandising for creative properties.” She is also the founder of Pocket Box Office, a company which specializes in “merchandising memorabilia,” “vinyl toy manufacturing” and “ai avatars based storytelling.” She has also worked as the head of marketing for various Bollywood films including “Ra. One,” “Chennai Express” and “Singham Returns.”