Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani speaks during the New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary Debate at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the Gerald W. Lynch Theater on June 12, 2025 in New York City. (Vincent Alban/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
(JTA) — The New York Police Department is investigating threats received by mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, including one featuring an apparent allusion to an Israeli attack on Hezbollah last year.
On Thursday, Mamdani’s campaign shared a voicemail that it received this week. It came as Mamdani, who is Muslim, drew criticism over his comments about the pro-Palestinian slogan “Globalize the intifada” on a podcast.
“Go start your car and see what happens. I’d keep an eye on your house and family. Watch your f–king back every f–king second until you get the f–k out of America. Nobody wants your terrorist ways here,” the caller said. “And check your beeper, too, you terrorist f–k. Beep beep.”
The message is an apparent reference to Israel’s deadly detonation of thousands of beepers belong to Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon in September. Since the mass detonation, seen as instrumental in ultimately curbing Hezbollah’s attacks against Israel, beepers have become a punchline for the pro-Israel right. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave President Donald Trump a gold-plated pager earlier this year and a silver-plated one to Sen. John Fetterman, a pro-Israel Democrat who previously told a pro-Israel activist, “The beepers thing, I love it. I love that s—.”
The call to Mamdani’s campaign comes amid a spike in political violence in the United States, which has included assassination attempts against President Donald Trump during his campaign last year; an arson at the residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, allegedly over his stance on Gaza; and, last week, the murder of two Minnesota lawmakers allegedly by a man who targeted Democrats.
“The violent and specific language of what appears to be a repeat caller is alarming and we are taking every precaution,” Andrew Epstein, Mamdani’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “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.”
Mamdani, who would be the city’s first Muslim mayor, has drawn steep criticism from some Jews and pro-Israel voices over his record of pro-Palestinian advocacy, which includes founding a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine in college, supporting the BDS movement to boycott Israel, organizing a rally while in office to call for divestment from Israel, and saying he would not visit Israel as mayor. That criticism escalated this week after Mamdani declined to condemn the phrase “Globalize the intifada,” rejecting the critique that it was antisemitic.
Mamdani is polling in second place ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic mayoral primary. The front-runner, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, denounced the threat against Mamdani in a post on social media on Thursday.
“This is an atrocious threat of political violence against Mr. Mamdani. It is unacceptable —I strongly condemn these threats and any others like them. This has no place in our politics or our society,” Cuomo tweeted. “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.”
