SALT LAKE CITY — A West Valley City man is facing charges in New York after police said he made terrorist threats targeting Central Synagogue in Manhattan.
The New York Police Department said Luis Ramirez, 23, made “emotionally disturbed” threats on the social platform X before then driving from Utah through Kansas City, to Philadelphia on Feb. 13 and 14. He continued to make threats as he traveled to New York City, and NYPD began tracking his movements at that time.
Police said one of the posts targeted the Central Synagogue at 652 Lexington Ave. in New York. According to court documents, the post read:
I WILL BE VISITING MY BROTHERS AND SISTER IN NYC TOMORROW PULL UP TO SHABBAT AT THE CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE 6 PM
Others he posted included threats to kill Jewish people, and claims that he went by the alias “Adolf Hitler” in a “past life.”
At approximately 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 14, Ramirez was stopped by Port Authority police and NYPD on the New Jersey side of the Lincoln tunnel, police said. He was immediately taken into custody and his car was searched, but no weapons were found.
A detective with NYPD said Ramirez was shown photos of the X account that made the threats and said: “Yes, that’s my account.”
Ramirez was then held in New Jersey in Hudson County Jail before being extradited to New York to face charges.
Once in New York, at a criminal court arrangement, arguments were made against a bail application Ramirez had submitted. His past criminal record was brought up, which included two open traffic violations — one in Ohio for a speeding ticket he’d failed to pay, and a second in Kansas for reckless driving and fleeing police.
Other arguments brought attention to Ramirez’s recent past in military officer cadet training school, which Ramirez had listed on his X account bio as a “marine officer candidate.” According to court documents, he was discharged from the school in Virginia in January for “psychological reasons.”
Additionally, while he awaited extradition, court documents said he was diagnosed as “schizophrenic, suffering from hallucinations, delusions and not being connected to reality.”
Further, a 730 examination was requested and granted for Ramirez by his defense council, but as of Friday had not been performed.
Ramirez now faces two counts of making terroristic threats, both class D felonies in the state of New York.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said he has “absolutely no tolerance for this conduct.”
“Any form of antisemitism is despicable, and I want Manhattan’s Jewish community to know we are remaining extremely vigilant,” he said. “Our Counter Terrorism unit is in constant contact with the NYPD and local community groups to continually assess threats and take appropriate action, and the Office’s Hate Crimes Unit is bringing prosecutions and providing resources to Jewish institutions and organizations.”
