A federal jury has convicted a 42-year-old Golden, Colorado man of threatening to kill two federal judges in Rochester after a judge threw out his civil discrimination lawsuit. Akram Marseet, a native of Libya, called the clerk’s office for the Western District of New York on January 10, 2024, and told a staffer the judges would be dead if he ever crossed paths with them.
According to trial testimony reported by RochesterFirst, Marseet told the clerk, “If I ever come across any of you, you will be dead sons of (expletive).” The U.S. Marshals Service received a report about the call the same day, and the FBI and New York State Police joined the investigation, the station reported. Federal prosecutors filed the threats case against Marseet the following day, on January 11, 2024.
The call came after a federal judge dismissed Marseet’s civil lawsuit with prejudice, meaning the claims could never be filed again. As Finger Lakes Daily News reported, Marseet became agitated over the dismissal, called two judges criminals and threatened to kill them if he encountered them. Marseet lives in Golden, Colorado, according to the outlet’s reporting on his conviction.
A Discrimination Case Tied To RIT
The two judges named in the threats, Geraci and Payson, were both involved in a federal lawsuit Marseet had filed accusing Rochester Institute of Technology of discrimination, according to the New York Daily Record. Court filings described by CBS News, which first reported on CBS Colorado, show Marseet was employed at RIT during the final two years of his pursuit of a master’s degree in electrical engineering. In his discrimination complaint, he claimed he was paid less than other student-employees at the school and alleged that racial bias caused his mistreatment…