The U.S. Justice Department announced the arrest of a San Jose State University graduate student for posting hateful, anti-Semitic and racist threatening messages on campus last fall.
Federal prosecutors said that the student, 30-year-old Ziheng “Tony” Fang of San Jose, was arrested July 9 on federal charges of false information and hoaxes. Fang made an initial appearance in federal court last Friday in San Jose.
According to the allegations in a criminal complaint and court documents filed on July 9, Fang wrote a hateful and threatening message placed in a plastic cover sheet taped to the bathroom wall of a men’s restroom on the campus of San Jose State. Fang is a graduate student at San Jose State, pursuing a Master’s Degree in Data Science.
Message found in San Jose State men’s room in November. Photo from U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern California District.
The message was discovered on Nov. 5, and began with “!Warning! Mass Bomb Next Week” among other statements, accompanied by multiple swastika symbols.
Fang’s fingerprint was found on this paper. A second message was also discovered on the wall of the same bathroom at the same time. It read “Kill all Jews, Muslims, Chinks, and Mexicans,” “Mass bombing 11/11 and 11/12 guess.”
The federal complaint alleges that San Jose State University police have since October 2024 recorded more than 20 instances of hateful and threatening messages written in men’s and gender-neutral restrooms around the San Jose State campus.
In many instances, these messages included threats specifying a particular date that an attack was allegedly intended to take place and/or weapons and methods that would be used such as bombs, knives, and shooting. The most recent hateful and threatening message was discovered on May 14.
Fang accessed buildings in the days leading up to the discovery of hateful and threatening messages in 16 of the 18 instances where key card access is required, according to the complaint. The next closest number of entries was from a San Jose State staff member who worked with facilities and had a reason to be in each building. Surveillance footage also showed Fang entering and exiting the restrooms or restroom areas where some of the messages were written up to a day before their discovery.
According to the complaint, the San Jose State President’s Office provided several email/text message alerts to notify students and staff before dates that attacks were allegedly set to take place.
When alerts were issued, university professors independently decided whether to cancel class or hold it virtually. University police and the college administration received multiple calls from people worried about coming onto campus because of the threats.
Campus buildings on the dates specified in the messages were described as “ghost town,” as described in the complaint.
U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon and FBI Special Agent in Charge Scott Schelble jointly announced the arrest of Fang, who is being held in federal custody.
Fang appeared in federal court on Monday for identification of counsel before Chief Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins.
A criminal complaint merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI, with the assistance of the San Jose State University Police Department.
