The Queens District Attorney’s Office announced on September 18th that a man from Texas has been indicted on charges of making threats in the form of hate crimes, allegedly targeting Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic candidate for New York City mayor and a state assemblyman in Queens. The defendant, Jeremy Fistel, 44, from Plano, Texas, faces 22 charges, including 4 counts of terrorism threats in the form of hate crimes.
According to the prosecution, Fistel left multiple threatening voicemails on Mamdani’s office phone starting from June to July of this year. The messages threatened Mamdani and his family.
In one of the messages, Fistel reportedly told Mamdani to “go back to Uganda to avoid getting shot in the head” and warned to “keep an eye on his residence and family,” making him “be cautious at all times until leaving the United States,” even stating that “he and his family deserve to die.”
One message left on June 18th explicitly stated, “Go start your car and see what happens,” hinting at a potential car bombing, although Mamdani clarified that he does not own a car. The prosecution also noted that these messages contained hate speech targeting Muslims.
District Attorney Melinda Katz of Queens emphasized, “I want to be clear – we take threats of violence against any public official extremely seriously – our political discourse does not permit hate or prejudice.”
This indictment comes at a time when political violence incidents are increasingly occurring across the United States, with recent events including the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah and the murder of Melissa Hortman, a Democratic House speaker in Minnesota, in June.
Mamdani’s campaign team released a statement thanking the prosecution for handling the case seriously, stating that unfortunately, such threats are not uncommon and reflect a hateful atmosphere that should not exist in their city.
The statement further stressed, “Zohran will uphold the belief that New York should be a city where everyone, regardless of faith, background, or identity, can feel safe, protected, and included.”
Fistel was arrested in Texas on September 11th and extradited to Queens on September 17th. On September 18th, he appeared in Queens Criminal Court for arraignment.
The indictment lists a total of 22 charges, including 4 counts of making threats in the form of hate crimes, 4 counts of making threats, 7 counts of second-degree aggravated harassment (hate crimes), and 7 counts of second-degree aggravated harassment.
If convicted of the most serious charges, Fistel faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. Judge Michelle Johnson has ordered him to appear in court again on November 19th.
Currently, Fistel has posted a $30,000 bail and has been released. When he left the court on the 18th, he refused to answer questions from the media present.
However, the defendant’s defense attorney, Todd Douglas Greenberg, argued that Fistel’s statements were protected under “freedom of speech.” He said, “No one would say that the words allegedly spoken by my client are appropriate.” “These words may be unpleasant and inappropriate, but that is freedom of speech.”
The defense attorney stated that Fistel’s messages do not constitute “terror threats” due to a lack of “specificity” and “immediacy.” “Wishing for something to happen doesn’t equate to a crime, or at least should not amount to a maximum penalty of 15 years.”