An ISIS-loving radical Islamic extremist from Yonkers was busted by the feds Friday for plotting to kill the city’s police officers and mayor beginning on the street where the local St. Patrick’s Day parade was set to go down, authorities said Friday.
Ridon Kola, 32, directly messaged the Yonkers police, saying “I will crucify Yonkers cops and their bosses all along McLean ave. It will be a horror scene . . . Allahu Ekberr,” according to federal authorities.
Though Kola didn’t directly threaten the parade, McLean Avenue is the street where the city’s St. Patrick’s Day event is scheduled for Saturday — and it prompted officials to quickly bust him Friday so he couldn’t do any damage at the event.
“Yonkers is proud to host one of New York’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parades and threats like this will not intimidate us from celebrating the many contributions of our Irish American community,” Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano tweeted after the bust.
Kola was arrested and charged with making threatening interstate communications, according to the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams.
On multiple occasions, Kola had posted disturbing posts online, including support for a “jihad,” or “to war against non-Muslims,” the feds allege. He also voiced support for extremists from the Islamic State.
The messages apparently went on for years. In 2021, he posted one to an official Yonkers police social media account written in Albanian that read “I am going to slaughter you little girls.”
Then on March 9 sent a direct message to the police account that read “First people to be crucified will be the Yonkers rats Vallahi. Allahu Ekberr.” That message came along with the one referencing killing cops on McLean Avenue.
The joint terrorism task force arrested Kola Friday morning, according to the indictment.
A woman who exited their Yonkers home where an Albanian flag was hanging in the window on Friday threatened to “press charges” against a Post reporter.
“There’s nothing to report. Don’t make me press charges against you. You better step off my property,” snapped the woman, who neighbors identified as Kola’s sister.
Neighbors described Kola as a quiet man.
“He’s never exhibited weird behavior to me,” said Norina, a neighbor who only gave her first name. “He was never creepy. He was normal.
“Threatening violence against police or to undermine public safety will not be tolerated, as Kola now stands charged and faces prison time for his threats against our dedicated law enforcement partners tasked with keeping us safe,” Williams said.
Commissioner Christopher Sapienza hailed the bust, especially with the holiday coming.
“Thankfully, due to the outstanding collaborative efforts of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force and our Yonkers Police Intelligence Division, our City will enjoy a safe Saint Patrick’s Day parade tomorrow free from intimidation by bad actors,” he said in a statement.
Additional reporting by CJ Sullivan
Craig McCarthy, Steven Vago
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