A man was arrested at his home Friday afternoon for threatening to kill those who support President Trump and Rep. Lee Zeldin, R–N.Y., and proceeded to almost hit a Zeldin campaign staffer with his car.
The 75-year-old Long Island native, Marin Astrof, “became irate” at Zeldin’s campaign headquarters in Suffolk County Friday morning, according to Suffolk County police.
The New York Post reported that Astrof threatened to kill Donato Panico, a Zeldin campaign staffer, as well as other Zeldin and Trump supporters. He then, according to local police, “backed his car up in an aggressive manner nearly striking the worker.”
“In the US, political scores are settled at the ballot box, not by trying to kill your political opponents,” Zeldin, a vocal Trump supporter, tweeted in response to the attack. “Donato Panico is a great American, supporter of @realDonaldTrump & one of my campaign vols. He shouldn’t have been targeted like this today for his passion & involvement.”
In the US, political scores are settled at the ballot box, not by trying to kill your political opponents. Donato Panico is a great American, supporter of @realDonaldTrump & one of my campaign vols. He shouldn’t have been targeted like this today for his passion & involvement. https://t.co/Rh8Ae6MR4x
— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) July 7, 2018
Panico was Zeldin’s guest at Trump’s State of the Union address earlier this year. He was recognized for his efforts to feed Ground Zero workers during the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Astrof is expected to be arraigned Saturday on the felony charge of making a terroristic threat, and a second-degree reckless endangerment charge.
This incident is the latest in attacks against the Trump administration and his supporters.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and his family said Monday they received threats from a person who said he would chop them up with an ax. The suspect was arrested this week.
Administration officials have also recently been confronted in public spaces, with Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., urging people to continue the practice of making Trump supporters and workers feel “not welcome anymore, anywhere.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and then-Environmental and Protections Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt were all harassed in restaurants and either asked to leave, were forced out by protesters, or were told to resign.
