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.