NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Utah man who took a road trip to New York City in February after making a series of terroristic threats on social media against Jewish people and a prominent Manhattan synagogue was indicted on multiple charges, District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Tuesday.
Luis Ramirez, 23, published a series of posts on X under his username @realramirezluis about the Jewish community on Feb. 13, prosecutors said. Amid the posts Ramirez wrote that he would be visiting Central Synagogue, located on Lexington Avenue and East 55th Street in Midtown, at 6 p.m. the following day.
After midnight, Ramirez allegedly threatened to kill Jewish people at Central Synagogue, writing: “The Jews killed me in my past life if you try to kill me again today in NYC when I pull up to Shabbat I will kill you first and condemn you to hell.”
He also allegedly referred to himself as the reincarnation of Hitler, stating that “In past life, I went by the alias Adolf Hitler,” before writing that if Jewish people tried to kill him again he would “kill tenfold as many Jews as [he] did in WW2.”
Ramirez was apprehended by members of the Port Authority and New Jersey police departments while trying to take the Lincoln Tunnel into Manhattan at about 5:30 p.m. the next day.
“Nobody should have to fear for their safety when they are in a house of worship, and the language allegedly used by this defendant is extremely disturbing,” Bragg said. “My office will remain vigilant against any and all threats to the Jewish community, and I thank our prosecutors and law enforcement partners for their work on this matter.”
Ramirez is charged with making a terroristic threat, making a terroristic threat as a hate crime and aggravated threat of mass harm, prosecutors said.