Muslim NY mayoral candidate reports threats; Jewish Ohio lawmaker was threatened separately

The latest US incidents raise concerns about the rise in hate against Americans of Muslim, Arab, Jewish, Israeli and Palestinian heritage since the start of Israel's war in Gaza

Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani talks to people after the New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary Debate at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the Gerald W Lynch Theater in New York City, US, June 12, 2025. Reuters

The New York City Police Department said on Thursday its hate crime unit was probing anti-Muslim threats against mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani while in another incident US Representative Max Miller of Ohio said he was "run off the road" by another driver with a Palestinian flag.

These marked the latest US incidents to raise concerns about the rise in hate against Americans of Muslim, Arab, Jewish, Israeli and Palestinian heritage since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in late 2023.

An NYPD spokesperson said police received reports that on Wednesday at 9:45 am, Mamdani, a Democratic state assembly member and mayoral candidate, reported that he "received four phone voicemails, on various dates, making threatening anti-Muslim statements by an unknown individual."

There have not been any arrests so far and the investigation remained ongoing, the NYPD added. The New York Daily News reported a man threatened to blow up Mamdani's car. Mamdani had no immediate comment.

Separately, Republican US Representative Max Miller from Ohio said on X he was "run off the road" in the city of Rocky River on Thursday while he and his family were threatened by a person with a Palestinian flag. He said he had filed a police report.

"Today I was run off the road in Rocky River, and the life of me and my family was threatened by a person who proceeded to show a Palestinian flag before taking off," said Miller, who is Jewish and pro-Israeli. He labelled the incident, which was also condemned by top congressional Democrats, as antisemitic.

Recent incidents that raised alarm over antisemitism and anti-Israel attitudes in the US include a fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington and a Colorado attack that left eight people wounded when a suspect threw incendiary devices into a pro-Israeli crowd.

Incidents raising alarm about anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian prejudice include the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian child in Illinois, the attempted drowning of a 3-year-old Palestinian American girl in Texas and a violent mob attack on pro-Palestinian protesters in California.