NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A 32-year-old man was arrested Friday for threatening to kill the Yonkers mayor and police officers and to carry out a terror attack at the Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday, according to the Department of Justice.
Ridon Kola, 32, allegedly expressed an ideological commitment to Albanian and Muslim extremism in his threatening posts on a Yonkers Police Department social media page.
“I am going to slaughter you little girls,” he wrote on the police social media page in Albanian on Nov. 19, 2021, according to a White Plains federal court criminal complaint.
“Starting tomorrow, I will start killing your officers just so you know who is doing it, Ridon Kola Albanian blood, and I’m going to kill your fat rat mayor,” he wrote on Dec. 5, 2021.
A YPD detective interviewed Kola at his home in December 2021. He reportedly admitted to making the posts, but said he had no plans to hurt anyone.
In early 2023, Kola started escalating his online threats and expressing support for past terror attacks.
In January, Kola posted allusions to ISIS and made statements calling for the establishment of a caliphate — an empire governed by Muslim religious law.
On March 6, he allegedly sent another threatening message to the YPD social media account.
“I’m looking for that officer that came to my house and threatened me and my family to kill us,” he wrote. “I’m going to burn the world until I find him wallah [by God], no matter what happens to me there will never be peace in this country anymore! Allahu akbar [God is great].”
The next day, Kola praised Sayfullo Saipov, the man who ran down victims with a truck in Lower Manhattan on Halloween in 2017. He killed eight people in the attack and claimed allegiance to ISIS.
He also posted threats to burn “judges alive with their families” on March 7.
On March 9, he sent direct messages to YPD on social media threatening to “crucify Yonkers cops and their bosses all along McLean Avenue. It will be a horror scene.”
McLean Avenue is part of the parade route for the Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which is scheduled to take place about a week-and-a-half after the message was sent.
“Ridon Kola posted threats on social media against law enforcement, stating his support for ISIS and his intention to murder numerous police officers,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “Undeterred after questioning from law enforcement, Kola’s conduct escalated, as he continued to assure police his threats would be carried out. Threatening violence against police or to undermine public safety will not be tolerated.”
Police arrested Kola on Friday and charged him with making threatening interstate communications. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
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