New Delhi: Riddhi Patel, an American of Indian origin who threatened to “murder” the members of Bakersfield City Council, pleaded not guilty to 18 felony accusations Friday. Patel had threatened the council members Wednesday. It is the sixth arrest of a protestor at a Bakersfield council meeting in the last three weeks, according to local media.
“Regardless of whether you elect people in office, they will backstab you, they will let you die and for that reason you guys want to criminalise us with metal detectors, we will see you at your house. We will murder you,” proclaimed Patel during the Wednesday council meeting. Patel reportedly appeared at the council meeting as a part of a group of protestors, protesting against the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Following the threats, Patel was escorted out of the meeting, arrested and booked on 10 counts of felony threat with intent to terrorise and eight counts of felony threat against state officers.
Patel is expected to appear before the Court for the next hearing on 24 April. Their bail was set at $1 million.
Local media reports that though Patel received support at their hearing Friday from several people in the gallery, a pro-Palestine activism group United Liberation Front condemned Patel’s behaviour in a statement Wednesday.
“United Liberation Front unequivocally condemns any statements that threaten public officials. The comments in question made by a speaker run counter to our values and do not represent the United Liberation Front,” the group said in its statement.
Also read: Israel braces for retaliation by Iran after airstrike in Syria, Biden urges Tehran to stand down
Who is Riddhi S Patel?
Patel, 28, is reported to have been born in Bakersfield, California and attended Stockdale High School. According to information made public by their employer and their own social media profiles, Patel is an Economic Development Coordinator at the Centre on Race, Poverty and the Environment (CRPE). Patel also identifies as non-binary.
They completed their Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from Saint Louis University in 2017 and returned to Bakersfield in 2019. Patel volunteered for the Bernie Sanders 2020 democratic presidential campaign before joining the CRPE.
According to their profile on the CRPE website, Patel, “prioritises highlighting the intersectionality that comes with the environmental justice movement to achieve collective liberation for all oppressed communities.”
The profile adds that in their spare time, Patel “enjoys holding elected officials accountable”.
ThePrint reached CRPE via email for a comment. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
At the hearing, Patel invoked Mahatma Gandhi and the festival of Chaitra Navratri as part of their protest against the measures being discussed by the Bakersfield city council.
“You guys do not care about anything happening in Palestine or any other country where oppression occurs because you do not care about the oppression occurring here. I understand that you guys are all horrible people,” said Patel.
Patel added, “While you guys parade Gandhi around. As a Hindu holiday called Chaitra Navratri starts off this week, I remind you that these holidays we practise, that other people in the global south practice, believe in violent revolution against their oppressors. I hope one day that somebody brings the guillotine and kills all of you m***** f******.”
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: Number of Indian students in Russia must grow, says ambassador Denis Alipov