A former adviser for President Barack Obama caught a lucky break last week in court after cutting a plea deal. 

According to NBC New York, Stuart Seldowitz, a former security adviser to Obama, landed himself in hot water last year after he was caught on video going on a "hateful rant last year against a Manhattan halal food worker."

The hateful rant against the worker resulted in Seldowitz being arrested.

The incident reportedly occurred on Second Avenue and East 83rd Street in New York City's Upper East Side.

What's happening?

Seldowitz, arrested in November of last year, was in court last week where he was able to cut a plea deal with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

NBC New York shared the details of the deal:

The plea requires the 65-year-old complete a 26-week anti-bias program in Queens, and he must have no new arrests and cannot violate a protection order against the halal cart worker.

It's a sweet deal given the gravity of his actions against the worker, who he reportedly harassed on several occasions, which resulted in the protection order against him.

Video of his rant quickly went viral and triggered an avalanche of criticism. Many couldn't believe he was able to strike a deal given what he said and did, but he's also a former Obama adviser who many believe afforded him special treatment.

NBC noted:

The edited video doesn’t show what happened before the halal truck worker started recording, but Seldowitz can be heard saying "If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, you know what, it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough."

Seldowitz released a statement regarding his interaction with the worker, saying, "The comments that went beyond him and interpreted on attacks against Muslims and Arab Americans and so on were probably not appropriate. The comments I made calling him out for his support of terrorism I think those were appropriate."

Social media reacts

Users across social media reacted to the news of the former Obama adviser's plea deal. The reactions were mixed, to say the least.

"This needs to be investigated. Being given an Epstein sentence should always raise red flags," one X user wrote.

Another X user wrote, "He is doing exactly what all those “activists” on university campuses are doing without reprimand. Exactly what all those who tore down the missing posters were doing, under “free speech” disguise."

Seldowitz will have his next court appearance on April 17. It'll be interesting to see if the plea deal holds up.