The New York City Police Department confirmed on Thursday that its Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating threatening voicemails sent to Zohran Mamdani…reports Asian Lite News
A Muslim mayoral candidate in New York and a Jewish congressman in Ohio have become the latest victims in a troubling wave of hate incidents tied to growing tensions over the war in Gaza, highlighting deepening divisions and rising threats against Americans of Middle Eastern and Jewish heritage.
The New York City Police Department confirmed on Thursday that its Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating threatening voicemails sent to Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic state assemblyman and declared mayoral candidate. According to the NYPD, Mamdani reported receiving four separate voicemail messages with anti-Muslim threats, made by an unidentified individual. The messages reportedly spanned multiple dates. So far, no arrests have been made, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Local media outlet New York Daily News reported that one of the threats included a message to “blow up Mamdani’s car.” Mamdani, who has been a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights and a critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza, has not yet issued a public response to the threats.
In a separate incident, US Representative Max Miller, a Republican lawmaker from Ohio and outspoken pro-Israel voice, claimed on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that he and his family were run off the road by a driver waving a Palestinian flag in Rocky River, Ohio. “The life of me and my family was threatened,” Miller wrote, labelling the act antisemitic. He said he has filed a police report.
Miller’s account drew swift condemnation from congressional colleagues, including Democratic leaders, who expressed concern over the rise in politically charged hate crimes.
These latest cases follow a disturbing series of violent incidents across the United States linked to the Israel-Gaza conflict, which reignited in late 2023.
Notable attacks include the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian boy in Illinois, an attempted drowning of a 3-year-old Palestinian-American girl in Texas, and a mob attack on pro-Palestinian demonstrators in California. On the other side, Jewish and Israeli communities have also been targeted — including a deadly shooting outside the Israeli embassy in Washington and a firebomb attack in Colorado that wounded eight people at a pro-Israel gathering.
Civil rights groups have warned of an alarming surge in hate crimes nationwide, calling for stronger community protections and bipartisan condemnation of violence.
