Man charged with threatening Mamdani seems to have echoed Trump

A Texas man was charged on Thursday with making terroristic threats against Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. The accused allegedly used many of the same anti-Mamdani talking points as used by President Donald Trump and conservative outlets like Fox News.

Jeremy Fistel was hit with a 22-count indictment, which laid out charges of making a terroristic threat and aggravated harassment. Fistel, who pleaded not guilty, has been accused of leaving incendiary messages about Mamdani, starting in June.

Prosecutors said that in voicemails and emails sent to a Mamdani campaign office, Fistel allegedly told Mamdani he should go back to Uganda—where Mamdani was born—before he was shot. The messages also allegedly told Mamdani that “Muslims don’t belong here.” Another voicemail allegedly described Mamdani as a “terrorist” and said, “Go on and start your car. See what happens.”

These alleged comments echo many of the right’s attacks on the surging Democratic candidate.

In a post made in June—the same month the voicemails were sent—Trump falsely described Mamdani as “100% Communist.” That month, Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Texas claimed that Mamdani would “destroy the great City of New York” and, citing rap lyrics to a song Mamdani wrote, falsely claimed he supported terrorism. Ogles also called for Mamdani to be denaturalized. And White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that if the allegations were true, “it’s something that should be investigated.”

In August, Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich falsely claimed that Mamdani “believes in blowing up buses and cafes.”

To be clear, if Mamdani were elected mayor of New York, it would have little to no effect on someone living in Texas, like the accused, but it is a testament to the method with which the right has nationalized its grievances against immigrants and the left that Mamdani has become a national target for the movement.

The right’s attacks seemingly haven’t hurt Mamdani politically. In polls of the general election, he is currently ahead of his closest competition by double digits, and his supporters have highlighted his willingness to stand up to Trump as one of his top selling points.

Despite conservative narratives to the contrary, the threat against Mamdani shows that it is the right, not the left, that has embraced a culture of violence—echoing the rhetoric of Trump, the leader of the GOP and the conservative movement. And data shows that right-wing extremists commit far more politically motivated homicides than their left-wing counterparts.

Following the recent killing of conservative pundit and bigot Charlie Kirk, the Trump administration has sought to crack down on speech and dissent. The right has lashed out at accurate descriptions of Kirk’s prejudiced beliefs and falsely claimed that the left has embraced a culture of violence and political “hate speech.” 

The Texas case appears to be another data point in documenting the spread of hateful right-wing narratives and how that motivates violent extremists, like those Trump pardoned after they stormed the U.S. Capitol in his name.