Two brothers who were beaten and restrained by security guards at the Egyptian Mission to the United Nations in New York City last summer have sued Egypt, claiming that the government is responsible for the attack.
The lawsuit, which was filed on Thursday in Manhattan federal court, was brought by Yasin El Sammak, 22, the older of the two brothers, and their mother, Olga Elsamak, who is representing Ali Elsamak, her 16-year-old son.
The brothers claimed that they sustained emotional and physical injuries during the episode on Aug. 20, 2025, when four security guards descended on the two after they had come to the diplomatic outpost to demand that Egypt allow more aid to enter Gaza during Israel’s war with Hamas.
Videos recorded by Mr. El Sammak and Husam Kaid, an activist and a friend of the brothers, show the guards dragging them through the glass doors of the mission on East 44th Street in Manhattan, where they beat Mr. El Sammak to the ground with a chain and detain his brother.
The images spread quickly online after the altercation, sparking outrage in New York City and in Egypt, where many described the episode as an act of political repression by Egypt’s government. Adding to the chaos and confusion, New York police officers who were called to the mission arrested the brothers.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office later dropped the charges against Mr. El Sammak, who had been accused of assault. The accusations against Ali, which were charged in family court because he is a minor, have also since been dropped, according to Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, one of the lawyers representing the family.
“This case seeks to hold Egypt accountable for the reprehensible acts of violence its agents committed on American soil,” the lawsuit says. It includes claims of assault, battery and false imprisonment and seeks punitive damages and compensation for all injuries as relief.
The Egyptian Embassy in Washington and the consulate in New York City could not immediately be reached for comment.
Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, foreign governments have broad immunity from claims against them in U.S. courts, making successful legal action against them incredibly difficult. The act, however, includes an exception for when a plaintiff is seeking money for personal injury that took place in the United States.
Mr. El Sammak and Ali’s lawsuit falls under this exception, Mr. Colangelo-Bryan said.
He added that the brothers’ experience fits into a growing trend of repression by foreign governments against members of their diasporas in the United States. Mr. El Sammak and Ali were both born in the United States. Their father is originally from Egypt.
In May 2017, supporters and security guards for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey attacked protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington, sending nine people to the hospital. Federal prosecutors indicted 15 Turkish security personnel in connection with the attack, but later dropped a majority of those charges.
A separate civil suit filed against Turkey had been going forward for years. In 2025, a federal judge found Turkey liable for the attack.
Mr. El Sammak and Ali went to the mission on Aug. 20, 2025, to protest the closure of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, a critical route for humanitarian aid to the enclave.
Mr. Kaid, who appears to be identified as “Friend-1” in the lawsuit, had invited the brothers to the protest and told them that he planned to place a chain on the doors of the mission, according to the complaint and a previous account from Mr. Kaid.
Before he could do so, however, a mission security guard emerged from the building, prompting Mr. Kaid to drop the chain and flee. Guards from the mission then turned toward Mr. El Sammak and Ali, who were standing on the sidewalk nearby, the complaint says.
In the chaotic moments that followed, one agent grabbed Ali and pulled him behind a set of barricades into a doorway near the mission’s entrance. Mr. El Sammak tried to intervene, pleading with the agent to let him go and moving toward his brother, according to the lawsuit and previous accounts from Mr. Kaid and the family.
Around the same time, Mr. Kaid, who had returned to the area, called 911 to ask for help, the lawsuit says.
Moments later, two more guards emerged from the mission and “forcibly dragged” the brothers into the lobby. There, the complaint says, the violence grew “vicious and brazen.”
One agent struck Mr. El Sammak on his neck and leg with the chain while another restrained Ali. A third agent then choked Mr. El Sammak with the Palestinian kaffiyeh he was wearing until he “could not breathe and feared he would suffocate and die,” the complaint says. Ali tried to move toward his brother, but was pulled away.
During the attack, Ali injured his hand and elbow and later developed a MRSA infection from one of the cuts, while Mr. El Sammak said he struggled to breathe and swallow and had to be taken to a hospital in the aftermath of the attack, the lawsuit states.
“Egypt has total impunity when it attacks or locks up or even kills protesters in Egypt,” Mr. Colangelo-Bryan said on Thursday. He added, “But the Egyptian government will have to face legal consequences for beating two American citizens in New York City.”
Maia Coleman is a reporter for The Times covering the New York Police Department and criminal justice in the New York area.
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