To All Who Stood With Us
To all the people who stood by us during the darkest period of our lives when we were targeted, boycotted, and pummeled with negative and false reviews, some of which still appear from time to time, I want to share an important update regarding Donovan Hall’s conviction.
Photo: Hall’s terrorizing messages, photos of a gun and knife sent to intimidate and threaten.
Justice has been done.
Hall has been sentenced to 49 months in prison, with no time off for time served. The judge read my impact letter, along with statements from several of my staff, including a young intern who was threatened with violent sexual assault. The judge took a firm, uncompromising stance, which I pray will augur well for New York’s future.
I am, however, under no illusions. The thought that Zohran Mamdani, a founding member of Students for Justice in Palestine has become mayor of New York is profoundly concerning, especially since our ordeal began with street demonstrations, organized by that very same group.'
Photo: Adherents to Mamdani’s SJP Fraternity Gathering clandestinely, yet obviously theatrically, placing boycott placards of the Blue Moon Hotel.
I wish I could say our case was an isolated incident. Sadly, as we all know, antisemitism has skyrocketed to levels unseen since before World War II.
And while I deeply believe there is a metaphysical reason behind antisemitism that it calls upon us to remember who we are and to embrace the divine responsibility for which we were chosen, there is also a more sobering reality: the erosion of Jewish values, principles, ethics, and self-respect brings ruin not only upon us, but upon every civilization that forgets its moral center. Europe is already bearing that consequence. America, tragically, is not far behind.
There is a battle we are all waging, whether we choose to admit it or not depends on how steeped in reality we are, to what is happening around us, in real time. What we are experiencing is not isolated; it is part of an international phenomenon, a tailwind from the broader "holy war" taking place across the world.
Muammar Gaddafi in 2006, during a speech in Tripoli that was covered by several international news outlets, including Reuters and The Telegraph (UK).
Europe has long been a dead man walking, unable or unwilling to curtail the epidemic that has targeted Western civilization itself. The fact that this malignancy has now reared its ugly head here in the United States, cloaked in the guise of righteous indignation, is merely a symptom of how swiftly and deeply it has infected the Western world.
Although we have endured many sleepless nights, the greatest pain has been our concern for our children. With several of them coming and going, the uncertainty only heightened our anxiety. Being doxed and tied to specific locations was both alarming and nerve-wracking. Naturally, as Jewish parents, we live in constant vigilance-whether our children are fighting in Gaza or simply walking the streets as identifiable Jews, they are never far from the reach of deadly antisemitism.
Impact Statement to court: Antisemitic death threats by Donovan Hall
For more than three months, my family, employees, and I lived in a state of relentless fear caused by one man: Donovan Hall.
His campaign of harassment, intimidation, and anti-Semitic hate invaded every corner of our lives, our home, our business, and even our sense of safety as parents.
Hall contacted us over a thousand times. He called our business, our home, and my personal cell phone, often dozens of times a day, including in the middle of the night. He said he was outside our door or “on the way,” threatening to kill us, mutilate us, and rape our staff. He repeated our home address aloud during his threats-a chilling reminder that he knew exactly where we lived.
We constantly feared for our children’s safety. The thought that someone could hate enough to want to kill us and our children was unbearable. Every sound outside, every unfamiliar car, every late-night phone call filled us with dread.
Hall’s violent anti-Semitic threats were brutal and vile, invoking the horrors of gas chambers and crematoriums. He expressed fantasies of inflicting pain and death upon our children. He sent text messages with images of guns, knives, and a machete, promising to use them.
At our workplace, the impact was devastating. Employees were terrified. One young woman quit after receiving one of his calls. An intern placement agency withdrew its students, fearing for their safety. The constant ringing of the phones, tied up by his repeated calls, almost brought our business to a standstill. We would watch the door, wondering if he was on his way, often calling the police in fear of diverting resources from where they were also needed.
This was not random harassment; it was a calculated campaign of anti-Semitic terrorism. Hall sought to dehumanize, intimidate, and silence us. He wanted us to feel hunted for being Jewish and for living openly and proudly as Jews in America.
The toll this took on our family cannot be overstated. We lived without peace or rest. Nights were sleepless. Our children were anxious and frightened; a ringing phone or a knock at the door brought waves of fear and helplessness.
We are proud Jews and proud Americans. We have built our lives and our business around community, creativity, and faith. To be targeted so hatefully, simply for who we are, was a deep violation not only of our safety but of our very humanity.
We ask this Court to recognize the gravity of Donovan Hall’s crimes and the enduring impact they have had on our family and employees. His actions were not merely threats-they were acts of hateful psychological warfare, rooted in sadistic emotional violence.
Justice in this case is not only about punishment; it is about reaffirming the principle that every person, regardless of faith, has the right to live without fear.
Federal Sentencing: Justice Finally Served
On October 30, 2025, justice was at last delivered. Jay Clayton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Stefanie Roddy, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Newark Field Office, announced that Donovan Hall was sentenced to 49 months in prison for making interstate threats and the interstate stalking of Jewish victims in New York City. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Jennifer H. Rearden.
“Donovan Hall targeted Jewish victims with a sustained campaign of intimidation, terror, and harassment,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “The approximately 1,000 threats he sent to these New Yorkers were alarming and brazen. The prosecution of this case and the sentence imposed make clear that this Office will aggressively bring to justice those who perpetrate senseless crimes of hate.”
Special Agent Roddy added:
“Hall’s sentencing speaks volumes about the severity of his crimes and the seriousness with which the law takes them. After being remanded for approximately ten months, Hall’s guilty plea still resulted in the near-maximum sentence allowed for his calculated campaign of anti-Semitic rhetoric. His reign of fear is over and serves as a reminder to those who think they can hide behind computers, phone lines, and texts-the FBI treats all threats of violence with the utmost seriousness. We will not relent in seeking justice for the victims of these egregious crimes.”
According to court documents, over a three-month period beginning in August 2024, Hall contacted several Jewish individuals in New York City approximately 1,000 times, issuing anti-Semitic and violent threats to torture, rape, and murder them and their families. He sent photographs of firearms and a machete to the hotel owner he targeted, vowing to use them. When authorities searched his home in Mesa, Arizona, they found the very weapons he had shown, one of them loaded.
Hall’s threats were part of a broader pattern of death threats directed toward Jewish victims across the United States.
In addition to his prison term, Hall, 35, was sentenced to three years of supervised release. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Adelsberg of the Civil Rights and Human Trafficking Unit, with the cooperation of multiple law enforcement agencies, including the NYPD, FBI Phoenix, and Mesa Police Department.
Epilogue: The Larger Battle
This is not just our family’s story, it is a microcosm of what is happening throughout the Western world. The same forces of hatred and radicalism that once burned synagogues in Europe now target Jews in New York, Los Angeles, and London.
But we are not victims; we are witnesses and builders. Our response must not only be fear, but faith. We must answer darkness with identity, courage, and light.
Justice was done but vigilance remains our duty.
So, I close this chapter, with love and gratitude to all who helped us endure, and to the One who neither slumbers nor sleeps, to those who published our story, who prayed for our well-being, especially my holy wife, and to the law enforcement, who stood watch with us, and to the agents and prosecutors who pursued justice with results. May this verdict stand as a reminder that hate has no sanctuary in this land.
May our sleepless nights give way to a dawn of strength, faith, and Jewish unity.