The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force launched a probe into multiple death threats made against Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani after his district office at 24-08 32nd St. in Astoria received four expletive-filled phone voicemails, on various dates, making threatening anti-Muslim statements by an unknown individual, including a threat to blow up his car.
The calls were made from an untraceable number and labeled the mayoral candidate a “terrorist who is not welcome in New York or America” in a message phoned in on Wednesday morning.
“After death threats and racist messages, Assembly Member Mamdani’s office is participating in an ongoing investigation by the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force,” Mamdani’s campaign manager, Andrew Epstein, said in a statement. “While Zohran does not own a car, the violent and specific language of what appears to be a repeat caller is alarming, and we are taking every precaution.”
Mamdani, 33, was born in Uganda to Indian parents and became a U.S. citizen in 2018. On Wednesday, he told reporters he believes Islamophobia is behind recent threats to his life.
“I get messages that say ‘the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim,’” Mamdani said. “I get threats on my life, on the people that I love. I try not to talk about it because the function of racism, as Toni Morrison says, is distraction.”
The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force began investigating the case a day later. There are no arrests, and the investigation remains ongoing.
“While this is a sad reality, it is not surprising after millions of dollars have been spent on dehumanizing, Islamophobic rhetoric designed to stoke division and hate,” Epstein said. “Violence and racism should have no place in our politics. Zohran remains focused on delivering a safe and affordable New York.”
While former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is still leading the mayor’s race in most polls, Mamdani has closed the once wide gap between them significantly. A Marist College poll released Wednesday had Cuomo leading with 38% of likely Democratic voters to Mamdani’s 27%. Cuomo wins in the final round of its ranked-choice voting simulation with 55% to Mamdani’s 45%.
The two leading contenders have been relentlessly attacking one another in the final days of the campaign. Cuomo has blasted Mamdani for his lack of government experience and for not condemning the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which many Jewish people see as a call to violence against them.
After learning of the investigation by the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force, Cuomo condemned the threats against Mamdani.
“This is an atrocious threat of political violence against Mr. Mamdani. It is unacceptable — I strongly condemn these threats and others like them,” Cuomo said on social media. “This has no place in our politics or our society. Thankfully, no one was harmed. This is a pivotal time in this country, and we need to tone down the rhetoric and focus on the people’s agenda.”
Additional reporting by Barbara Russo-Lennon.
