The New York Police Department is investigating threats against New York City mayoral candidate and socialist Zohran Mamdani after a man left a series of voice messages at his district office in recent weeks.
The messages threatened Mamdani and his family. Mamdani’s campaign is cooperating with the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force on the messages.
One message called him a terrorist who “is not welcome in New York or America.” Another statement from the man seemed to imply that a bomb or other threat would be triggered by him starting his car.
“Go ahead and start your car, see what happens,” the man said.
“The violent and specific language of what appears to be a repeat caller is alarming and we are taking every precaution,” a Mamdani spokesperson said. “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.”
An NYPD spokesperson told the New York Times that no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
Mamdani’s opponents, including front-runner Andrew Cuomo, have denounced the threats. “This is an atrocious threat of political violence against Mr. Mamdani,” the former governor said in a post on X.
“It is unacceptable — I strongly condemn these threats and any others like them. 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,” he added.
Several threats or actions of political violence have occurred in recent weeks. Most recently, Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) said he was run off the road on Thursday by a man with a Palestinian flag, and two Minnesota lawmakers were shot by a gunman, one fatally along with her husband, impersonating a police officer, who was later found to have a manifesto listing off other lawmakers.
City Comptroller Brad Lander, who has co-endorsed Mamdani, also condemned the attacks. He’s widely viewed as the third-place candidate in the race after Cuomo and Mamdani.
“The hideous threats of Islamophobic violence against @ZohranKMamdani are dangerous and morally reprehensible. I condemn this behavior to fullest extent. Hate has no place in New York City,” he said in a post on X.
Mamdani said on Wednesday that he receives threats on his life. “I get threats on my life, on the people that I love,” he said. “I try not to talk about it because the function of racism, as Toni Morrison says, is distraction.”
He has received much criticism lately for his refusal to condemn the “globalize the intifada” phrase, including from Cuomo, who said Mamdani was defending words that “fuel hate.”
Even Lander, who has been an ally to Mamdani, didn’t appear to fully back him. “We do not agree on everything about Israel and Palestine, but I do believe that he will protect Jewish New Yorkers and our rights,” he said.
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Early voting has started in the New York City Democratic primary for mayor, with the primary set for June 24.
Cuomo is expected to win despite Mamdani’s growing progressive movement fed by his affordability agenda.