Anti-Semitic Death Threats In Stratford; New York Man Charged

STRATFORD, CT — A New York man is accused of making anti-Semitic death threats to a Stratford resident, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

Christopher Rascoll, 48, of Blauvelt, was arrested Friday in New York City and ordered detained after appearing Monday before a federal judge in Bridgeport, the news release said.

Editor’s note: This story contains anti-Semitic language attributed to Rascoll by law enforcement.

On Dec. 23, 2019, the first day of Hanukkah, Rascoll began sending threatening text messages to the Stratford resident, who is Jewish, according to the news release. In several of the messages, which continued into May 2020, Rascoll threatened to murder or seriously injure the resident, the news release said, adding he also threatened to blow up the person’s house and car.

Some of Rascoll’s threatening text messages contained anti-Semitic references to the Holocaust, according to the news release. On Dec. 23, 2019, Rascoll sent a message that included the words, “Suns about to go down. It would be a shame if your house were used to light the menorah. Or turned in a gas chamber,” the news release said. On April 8, 2020, Rascoll wrote, “I’m going to kill you. You better be gone because if you’re in [the resident's housing community] Easter weekend I’m going to stick you in an oven. Or I’m going to shoot you,” according to the news release.

Rascoll is charged with one count of interference with the right to fair housing, a hate crime that carries a maximum prison term of 10 years; and two counts of threatening communications, which carry a maximum term of five years in prison for each count.

The case is being investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Stratford Police Department.