WATAUGA COUNTY, N.C. — A Watauga County man said he fears for his life after his car was vandalized with notes threatening death unless he leaves the country. He said it’s just some of the hate he has faced in his neighborhood.
Mike Jandal al Safari is originally from Syria. He said the latest threat happened while he was at work in Boone.
Channel 9 learned that both the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office and police in Boone have been alerted. Jandal al Safari said he’s been repeatedly threatened.
He showed reporter Dave Faherty one of the three messages he found either in his mailbox or in his SUV telling him to go back to his country or he would be killed. A week ago, he said he found a fourth message written on the side of his vehicle while he was working at Food Lion.
“This is a surprise. We are in America and they have all kinds of laws. All kinds of human rights and they don’t even embrace it. It’s really hard. They don’t know what we’ve been through in our county,” Jandal al Safari said.
He said he’s been in the United States since 2010. His entire family was killed in conflicts in Syria.
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In Boone, he said police have the surveillance video from the Food Lion and are investigating, but he said when he reached out to Watauga County deputies, they didn’t even come to his home.
Sheriff Len Hagaman sent Channel 9 a statement, saying, “The Watauga County Sheriff’s Office takes any allegation of personal harm very seriously. We review any allegation of harm with our local, state and federal partners and there are also conversations with our local, state and federal judicial officials.”
Jandal al Safari doesn’t know who is behind the threatening messages. He said he has also found several of the chickens, goats, ducks and rabbits that he has raised dead on his property. He also had surveillance cameras and “no trespassing” signs posted nearby, hoping to stop the threats.
He told Channel 9 that he has had a lot of support from his coworkers and Food Lion during all of this. He hopes federal authorities will take a look at the case.
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