A Californian knifeman screaming ‘f*** Trump’ allegedly threatened to kill a Republican congressional candidate with a switchblade before fleeing after it failed to open.
Licensed security guard Farzad Vincent Fazeli, 35, allegedly ran towards Rudy Peters, who is a Navy veteran, in an ‘aggressive manner’ and threw a glass mug at him, prompting the 56-year-old candidate to wrestle the attacker to the ground.
Fazeli then stood up and reached into his pocket to reveal a switchblade before shouting ‘I’m going to kill you motherf*****!’ a court affidavit said. He retreated after realizing the knife would not open and was arrested at a nearby bank.
Farzad Vincent Fazeli, 35, (left, in a mug shot) allegedly ran towards Rudy Peters (right) in an ‘aggressive manner’ and threw a glass mug at him, prompting the 56-year-old Navy veteran to wrestle the attacker to the ground
The alleged incident began inside Peters’ vendor booth at the Castro Valley Fall Festival at around 3.45pm on Sunday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
‘All of a sudden we hear someone screaming, ‘f*** Trump, f*** Trump!” Peters remembered. He said Fazeli moved to the entrance of the booth and raised his middle finger.
Peters, who was sitting next to Republican state assembly candidate Joseph Grcar, said Fazeli appeared to be walking off but, ‘turned round and said, ‘I’ll show you’ before running at the booth.”
After Peters knocked Fazeli to the ground he clambered to his feet and got out his switchblade.
‘He’s screaming, ‘I’m gonna kill you, motherf*****!’ Peters said. ‘He had the knife, but the blade wouldn’t shoot out.’
Peters, a Trump loyalist who uses the president’s Make America Great slogan on his campaign homepage, grabbed a sign from a cupcake stall to use as a shield, but Fazeli then left. No one was hurt.
The suspect regularly ranted about Trump on Facebook and posed for a photo wearing a 1996 Bill Clinton t-shirt in 2013
Peters’ opponent, incumbent Democrat Representative Eric Swalwell, tweeted his concern about the incident
Peters’ campaign rival, incumbent Democrat Representative Eric Swalwell, tweeted his concern about the incident.
‘On Sunday, my opponent @PetersCongress was attacked at his campaign booth in Castro Valley. I’m glad to hear Mr. Peters is okay. But it’s NEVER okay to use violence to settle political disagreements (or any disagreement). Fortunately, @ACSOSheriffs arrested the suspect.’
Fazeli was licensed to work as a security guard in California but had previous convictions for battery and burglary
Peters told the Chronicle: ‘It’s a shame. People are just polarized right now, and this country’s divided and it’s just a mess. It shouldn’t be that way.’
Fazeli, from Castro Valley, was charged on Tuesday with making criminal threats, possessing a switchblade, and exhibiting a deadly weapon. He had previous convictions for battery and burglary.
He was licensed to work as a security guard in California and recorded his jobs on Facebook as ‘security guard at Costco’ and ‘assistant manager at Shell gas station’. It was unclear where he was working at the time of his arrest.
The suspect regularly ranted against Trump on Facebook.
In September 2017, Hurricane Irma had killed 134 people after ravishing Florida and Puerto Rico when he posted it was ‘payback for voting Donald Trump’.
Fazeli had railed against Trump’s approach to gun control and referred to him as a ‘white militia spokesman’. He also posed in a photo shared in 2013 wearing a Bill Clinton t-shirt touting his successful 1996 presidential run.
The alleged incident began inside Peters’ vendor booth at the Castro Valley Fall Festival at around 3.45pm on Sunday (file photo)