Man arrested after threatening to ‘shoot up’ state senator’s office

A man came to state Sen. Cordell Cleare’s Harlem office on Monday, threatening her staff that he would “shoot up” and “blow up” the office if he didn’t get to see her, the state lawmaker told City & State. The 42-year-old man, who Cleare said was unarmed, was then arrested, the New York City Police Department’s press office later confirmed. He was charged with making terroristic threats, making a threat of massive harm, menacing in the third degree and harassment in the second degree, the NYPD said, noting that the highest of those charges is making terroristic threats – a class D felony. As of 5:45pm Monday, the man was still in police custody.    

Cleare was not with her staff at the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building on 125th St. at the time of the incident, she said, but happened to be calling her front desk as the man made the threats. When Cleare asked her front desk staffer how they were doing over the phone, she told her, “I’m shaking.” “She said that this man had come in and demanded immediately, just said, ‘I demand, I want to see (Cleare), and if I don’t get to see her, I’m going to shoot this office up, I’m going to bomb the place, and remarks similar to that,” Cleare said. “He went on to say these references to President-elect Trump, you know, ‘He’s the president now and things are going to change now.’ He made some disparaging remarks about President Biden and Vice President Harris.” 

Building security was first called, and then the NYPD were called, who removed the man from the building, according to Cleare. 

Cleare said that this was the first time she had experienced an incident like this while in office. “No one’s ever come in here and said they’re going to shoot up the place, and they're going to bomb the place,” she said. “Of course, people are upset sometimes, angry or what have you. But to come in and threaten violence on that level is very unnerving and disturbing.”

Assembly Member Eddie Gibbs, whose district overlaps in a small section with Cleare’s, said that he and other officials in the area visited Cleare after to give her moral support. Manhattan Democratic Party Chair Keith Wright, who spoke to Cleare on the phone afterwards, said that she seemed calm after the incident. “I don’t know what you know about Cordell, but something like this is not going to rattle her,” he said.

The state office building also houses other government offices.