'Threat' to Zohran Mamdani: Texas man charged; lawyer calls it 'free speech'

A Texas man has been charged with making violent threats against New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, prosecutors announced Thursday. Jeremy Fistel, 44, was arrested in Texas and extradited to New York, where he was arraigned on charges of making terroristic threats and aggravated harassment.

Prosecutors say he left multiple threatening voicemails and written messages for Mamdani’s office in June.In one message, Fistel allegedly warned, “Start your car. See what happens.” In others, he called Mamdani — who would be the city’s first Muslim mayor if elected — a “terrorist,” told him to “go back” to his country of birth - Uganda - and said, “Muslims don’t belong here … You deserve to be six feet underground.” Fistel pleaded not guilty and was released after posting $30,000 bail. His lawyer, Todd Douglas Greenberg, argued the case centered on free speech. “It was unpleasant speech, but it was free speech,” Greenberg said in court.Prosecutors had sought a higher bail, citing Fistel’s criminal history. He previously pleaded guilty in a federal marijuana trafficking case and was sentenced to time served. One of his co-defendants later received a sentence commutation from US President Donald Trump in the final days of the Republican's first term.

The case comes amid heightened concerns over political violence in the US, following last week’s assassination of conservative activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk in Utah and the fatal shooting of a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota earlier this year.Mamdani’s campaign condemned the threats, saying they reflected “a broader climate of hate that has no place in our city.” The statement added: “We cannot and will not be intimidated by racism, Islamophobia and hate.” Mayor Eric Adams told reporters Mamdani has been assigned a full police security detail. Adams, who is also running for re-election, noted the irony that a critic of the NYPD is now under its protection. “The person who made the threat should be apprehended,” Adams said. “It just goes to show that these officers carry out their job, no matter who the person is.” Mamdani, who emigrated from Uganda and became a US citizen in 2018, was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020.