Muslim candidate for Congress in NJ posts death threat phone call

A Muslim woman running for Congress in New Jersey's 6th Congressional District posted audio of a death threat she received to demonstrate what she says Muslims and minorities have to deal with.

Amani al-Khatahtbeh will be on the ballot as a Democrat in the July 7 primary running for the seat held by the Democrat Frank Pallone since 1993. She is also the founder of the website MuslimGirl.com and was named by CNN as one of the 25 most influential American Muslims.

"Sharing this here because people need to know this experience. I received this phone call from an unknown number shortly after our first virtual townhall this week. A death threat," al-Khatahtbeh wrote on her social media platforms.

She said it isn't the first death threat she has received and explained that she posted audio of the threat because "it’s important to understand what Muslims and minorities have to deal with on an everyday basis"

The threat came after she hosted a town hall meeting on Instagram.

Two voices with British accents deliver a profanity-filled threat to kill someone at a specific address. The voice also threatens to force-feed her pork and "ram it down her throat."

"Love how racists think pigs are muslim kryptonite. Yea way more concerning than the part where you want to kill me," al-Khatahtbeh wrote in a separate message on her campaign Twitter account.

The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling on "state law enforcement agencies" and the FBI to investigate the threat.

“At a time in which our nation is facing an alarming rise in xenophobia, Islamophobia and racism, it is sadly no surprise to see such horrific calls. These death threats have become all too common for Muslim candidates, but we must not allow ourselves to be numbed by their frequency," CAIR-NJ Executive Director Selaedin Maksut said in a written statement.

The 2014 Rutgers University political science and Middle Eastern studies graduate told the Daily Targum student newspaper that she has always loved politics. She helped organize the effort to protest Condoleezza Rice as Rutgers commencement speaker, according to the Targum.

Al-Khatahtbeh said she is New Jersey's first Muslim woman to run for a federal office.

Russ Cirincione is the other Democrat on the primary ballot.