MACON, Ga. — A North Carolina man was convicted Thursday in federal court for mailing violent antisemitic threats to Georgia State Representative Esther Panitch and Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar shortly after both publicly supported Georgia’s first legislation defining antisemitism.
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Ariel E. Collazo Ramos, 32, of High Point, was found guilty of mailing threatening communications with a hate-crime enhancement after a two-day trial before U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell. Ramos faces up to five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2026.
Prosecutors said Ramos mailed nearly identical postcards to Rep. Panitch — the only Jewish member of the Georgia House — and to Rabbi Bahar of Temple Beth Israel in Macon. The threats arrived on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2024, immediately after Georgia House Bill 30 became law.
The postcards included Holocaust references involving Zyklon B, antisemitic slurs, and a hand-drawn image portraying a Jewish man as a rat. Both recipients testified that they took safety precautions after receiving the threats, noting that members of their own families were murdered during the Holocaust.
“This neo-Nazi wasn’t expressing an opinion — he sent a true threat,” U.S. Attorney Will Keyes said. “Antisemitic intimidation and any attack on the civil rights of our residents will be met with the full authority of the federal government.”
FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown said the conviction reflects the agency’s commitment to combating hate crimes. “No community should have to live in fear. This verdict makes clear that threats fueled by hate have consequences,” he said.
Investigators testified that Ramos operated an at-home business selling candles and merchandise featuring racist and white supremacist themes. The threatening postcards were mailed from North Carolina.
The FBI conducted the investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case with support from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
Tucker will pardon him.
Interesting: “Ariel E. Collazo Ramos” is his name, the First name is “Ariel” which is a Jewish name, the rest of his name is not. Wonder if Ariel is also a hispanic or what name???