Texas man arraigned after allegedly making death threats against Zohran Mamdani
QUEENS, New York (WABC) -- A Texas man was arraigned in a Queens courtroom after allegedly making death threats against New York City mayoral candidate and Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani.
Jeremy Fistel, 44, was arrested in Plano, Texas, last week and was ordered to appear in court.
At least four threats were left via voicemail in the assemblyman's Queens office and included Islamophobic statements, his campaign said.
Fistel was arraigned on a 22-count indictment charging him with four counts of making a terroristic threat as a hate crime, four counts of making a terroristic threat, seven counts of aggravated harassment in the second degree as a hate crime and seven counts of aggravated harassment in the second degree.
The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigated multiple death threats back in June, including a threat to blow up his car. The threats allegedly continued into the month of July. Mamdani does not own a car.
"As alleged, the defendant threatened an elected official by leaving a series of increasingly alarming anti-Muslim messages with the office of Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. The defendant told the assemblyman to go back to Uganda before someone shoots him in the head, to keep an eye on his house and family, to watch his back every second until he leaves America, and that he and his relatives deserve to die. Let me be very clear - we take threats of violence against any office holder extremely seriously - and there is no room for hate or bigotry in our political discourse. The defendant has now been extradited to Queens to face the serious charges against him. I thank our law enforcement partners at the NYPD, FBI and US Marshals Service for their work on this case," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
If convicted of the top charge, the defendant faces up to 15 years in prison. Queens Supreme Court Justice Michelle A. Johnson ordered Fistel to return to court November 19.
The threats prompted an increase in security for all of the candidates running for mayor of New York City.
In an already contentious race, set against a backdrop of national political violence, Mayor Eric Adams didn't exactly condemn the hateful comments, instead saying, "there's something ironic about a person who called for protection for his life but don't understand why we don't want to disband or defund our police department to protect every day New Yorkers."
Meanwhile, Mamdani's campaign responded to the arrest today, saying "Unfortunately, threats of this nature are all too common, and they reflect a broader climate of hate that has no place in our city. We are thankful for the security measures in place for both the Assembly office and the campaign."
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