NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- A Texas man has been arrested and charged with making anti-Muslim death threats against Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor and the front-runner in recent polls, authorities said.
Jeremy Fistel, 44, was taken into custody in Texas by the US Marshals Service and the NYPD’s Regional Fugitive Task Force after investigators linked him to four threatening phone calls made to Mamdani’s Queens office.
He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Queens Criminal Court on charges including making a terroristic threat and aggravated harassment as a hate crime.
According to investigators, the substance of the calls included a warning to “start your car and see what happens” and a threat telling Mamdani to “go back to Uganda” before someone harms him and his family.
The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force led the investigation, saying the threats were part of a months-long pattern of harassment directed at Mamdani. In response to the threats, the NYPD assigned the candidate a security detail.
In a statement, Mamdani's campaign said in part: "We are grateful to District Attorney Katz’s office for treating this matter with the seriousness it deserves. Unfortunately, threats of this nature are all too common—and they reflect a broader climate of hate that has no place in our city."
If elected, Mamdani, 33, would be the first Muslim mayor in New York City history. He was born in Uganda and moved to New York with his family when he was 7.
Mamdani’s campaign has previously described the messages as “alarming,” saying they reflect a broader rise in Islamophobic rhetoric. The campaign added that the assemblyman, who doesn’t own a car, remains focused on “delivering a safe and affordable New York.”
The arrest comes a week after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump. His killing marked the latest in a string of violent episodes targeting political figures.
Since 2021, there have been at least six high-profile attacks, including two attempts on Trump’s life in 2024. In 2022, Paul Pelosi was assaulted in his San Francisco home by an intruder who said he planned to kidnap his wife, then–House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In April of this year, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro fled his residence after an arson attempt.
Two months later, Melissa Hortman, the Democratic leader of the Minnesota House, and her husband were fatally shot at their home, while state Senator John Hoffman and his wife were wounded in a separate attack tied to the same suspect.
1010 WINS contributed to this report.
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