{"id":241990,"date":"2025-09-20T17:57:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T17:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/241990\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T17:57:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T17:57:32","slug":"texas-man-arrested-for-threats-against-nyc-mayoral-candidate-zohran-mamdani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/241990\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas man arrested for threats against NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Texas man has been arrested for leaving multiple expletive-laden threats via voicemail and email to kill New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, authorities said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Fistel, 43, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Supreme Court on charges of threatening Mamdani in three expletive-laden calls in June and July and via an email sent through Mamdani\u2019s campaign portal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defendant threatened an elected official by leaving a series of increasingly alarming anti-Muslim messages,\u201d Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. \u201cWe take threats of violence against any office holder extremely seriously. There is no room for hate or bigotry in our political discourse.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first call was made on June 11, when Fistel allegedly said, \u201cHey Zohran. You should go back to f\u2014ing Uganda before someone shoots you in the f\u2014ing head and gets rid of your whole f\u2014ing family too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right, you piece of s\u2014,\u201d the caller added. \u201cMuslims don\u2019t belong here. They\u2019re not compatible with our western values, so stop spewing your anti-semitic rhetoric. Shut the f\u2014 up and get the f\u2014 out of America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fistel was arrested in Plano, Texas, Sept. 11 and held there for a week, his defense lawyer said.<\/p>\n

\"JeremyJeremy Fistel (in hoodie) leaves Queens Criminal Supreme Court on Thursday. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

The investigation by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force began after the department was alerted by Mamdani aides<\/a> of a June 18 threat that the office deemed more serious, the Daily News previously reported.<\/p>\n

In that voicemail, a recording of which was obtained by The News, the man called Mamdani, a U.S. citizen born in Uganda, a \u201cterrorist piece of s\u2014\u201d and said a bomb would be planted in his vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo ahead and start your car, see what happens,\u201d the person says in the message. \u201cAnd keep an eye out on your house and your family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The caller also told Mamdani to \u201ccheck your beeper, too, you terrorist f\u2014, beep, beep,\u201d a possible reference to the Israeli government\u2019s deadly pager attacks targeting the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon in 2024.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s campaign noted at the time he does not own a car.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe violent and specific language of what appears to be a repeat caller is alarming, and we are taking every precaution,\u201d the campaign said in a statement at the time.<\/p>\n

\"JeremyJeremy Fistel is arraigned in Queens Criminal Supreme Court on Thursday. (Dean Moses \/ Pool)<\/p>\n

On Thursday, in response Fistel\u2019s arrest, Mamdani campaign spokeswoman Dora Pekec said, \u201cWe are grateful to District Attorney Katz\u2019s office for treating this matter with the seriousness it deserves. Unfortunately, threats of this nature are all too common \u2014 and they reflect a broader climate of hate that has no place in our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fistel allegedly went on to send a July 8 email to Mamdani\u2019s office, which said in part, \u201cI hope you get terminal cancer and die a painful death very soon. I\u2019d love to see an IDF (Israeli Defense Force) bullet go through your skull. Would be even better if you had to watch your wife and kids murdered in front you before they end your pathetic miserable life.\u201d<\/p>\n

And on July 23, Fistel allegedly left a voicemail saying Mamdani and his family deserved to die and that \u201call you and your Muslim f\u2014 loser friends and relatives and family and wife and kids deserve to die.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the fact Fistel blocked his caller ID, detectives were able to identify him via his cell phone number, prosecutors said. They also identified him because he sent the email using his own email address.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this is about phone calls, I just won\u2019t make any more,\u201d Fiskel said when interviewed by two FBI agents and an NYPD detective outside the Plano mansion where he was living with a girlfriend and her children on Aug. 21, according to prosecutors. \u201cI don\u2019t like people who support terrorism and burn the American flag around here. I don\u2019t like that at all, but I have to mind my business. \u2026 I\u2019m a taxpaying citizen. It\u2019s rhetoric.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ZohranZohran Mamdani (Barry Williams\/New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

After investigators read to him transcripts of the voicemails and email, he agreed they sounded bad but said he hadn\u2019t meant it, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

When investigators played him a recording of the June 11 call, Fistel said, \u201cI have no interest in going to New York City. That place is like an alcoholic that has to hit rock bottom. \u2026 I couldn\u2019t say if I recognize that call. I don\u2019t believe I\u2019ve committed any kind of crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the July 23 call, Fistel claimed, \u201cI can\u2019t say if I recognize that call. It sounds bad. It sounds terrible. It sounded unnecessarily over the top.\u201d Later he denied he threatened \u201canyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

In court, his defense attorney Todd Greenberg argued Fistel merely said things within his First Amendment rights but took no steps to act on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking a terrorist threat has to be specific. It has to be imminent,\u201d Greenberg said. \u201cWishing somebody did this to Mamdani or whoever the subject was, hoping it happens, is not a crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fistel was hit with a slew of charges including four counts of making a terroristic threat as a hate crime, four counts of making a terroristic threat and seven counts of aggravated harassment as a hate crime. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.<\/p>\n

Justice Michelle Johnson set bond at $125,000. Fistel\u2019s brother, who lives in the city, was expected to post the bail. Fistel is slated to return to court Nov. 19.<\/p>\n

Mayor Adams launched an attack on Mamdani in response to the arrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess that\u2019s why the word irony is in the dictionary \u2014 because there\u2019s something ironic about a person who called for protection for his life but don\u2019t understand why we don\u2019t want to defund and disband our police department to protect everyday New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s campaign pays for his security, The News has previously reported.<\/p>\n

\"JeremyJeremy Fistel is arraigned in Queens Criminal Supreme Court on Thursday. (Dean Moses \/ Pool)<\/p>\n

In 2012, Fistel pleaded guilty to a marijuana distribution charge in Brooklyn Federal Court and was sentenced in 2019 to time served, two years of probation and ordered to forfeit $50,000, court records show.<\/p>\n

A co-defendant in the case, Jonathan Braun, of Long Island, was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. President Trump commuted<\/a> his sentence during Trump\u2019s first term after Braun had served five years. In 2023, The New York Times reported<\/a> the commutation may have undercut an investigation into a predatory lending ring linked to Braun.<\/p>\n

Braun was c<\/a>harged earlier this year on Long Island with menacing a hospital nurse and another member of his synagogue. Braun will be sentenced Oct. 9<\/a> for a possible five years in prison.<\/p>\n

The records indicate Fistel cooperated with federal prosecutors in the weed case to earn the highly favorable sentencing outcome \u2014 a fact that explains the long lag between the guilty plea and the sentencing.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the judge in that case, Fistel wrote he grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family in a small town in Massachusetts and studied accounting at the University of Maryland.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetween 2007 and 2009, I sold marijuana \u2026 and was given larger amounts to sell on consignment,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI\u2019ve come to realize I turned to marijuana as a way to treat my undiagnosed anxiety disorder and to try and fit in with people who I thought wanted to be my friends. I have since found constructive methods of treating this anxiety.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have made significant effort to move past this phase of my youth and build a life as a contributing member of society and a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JeremyJeremy Fistel leaves Queens Criminal Supreme Court on Thursday. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Fistel wrote he began working at the insurance company John Hancock in 2010 around the time he was arrested in the marijuana case and was promoted four times at the company to rank of \u201cproduct implementation analyst.\u201d<\/p>\n

He writes that he returned home to care for his mother after his father died. He volunteered for a youth work skills group and a nonprofit that provides meals for seniors, and was treasurer for the town\u2019s men\u2019s softball league.<\/p>\n

His defense lawyer said he moved to Plano from Massachusetts to be with his girlfriend.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: September 18, 2025 at 12:27 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Texas man has been arrested for leaving multiple expletive-laden threats via voicemail and email to kill New…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":241991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,2451,3059,5295,1370,728,405,403,5294,8989,50,5226,5225,5228,5227,5293,80,5321,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-241990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-city","10":"tag-county","11":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-local-news","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-new-york-county","17":"tag-new-york-politics","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-newyork","20":"tag-newyorkcity","21":"tag-ny","22":"tag-nyc","23":"tag-nyc-crime","24":"tag-politics","25":"tag-sub-county-region","26":"tag-united-states","27":"tag-united-states-of-america","28":"tag-unitedstates","29":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","30":"tag-us","31":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115237922354065085","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}