September 21, 2018
A presumed Iranian-American has been arrested near San Francisco for allegedly trying to knife a Republican candidate for Congress.
Police identified the man as Farzad Vincent Fazeli, 35, of Castro Valley, California on the east side of San Francisco Bay across from San Francisco.
From his name, it was assumed that he was Iranian, although no information was immediately available. He was born in Castro Valley and his mother has a European name.
Most of the information on the incident September 9 came from Rudy Peters, who is running in the 15th Congressional District as a Republican trying to oust incumbent Democrat Eric Swalwell.
Some Republicans swiftly began making much of the incident, saying that such news outlets as CNN were refusing to cover the news of the attack, which they described as typical of leftists. Fazeli was not critiqued as a Middle Eastern terrorist, but rather as a violent American leftist.
The candidate said Fazeli appeared at the candidate’s campaign booth at the Castro Valley Fall Festival and began shouting obscenities about President Trump and the Republican Party, then picked up a coffee mug and threw it at Peters, missing him.
Peters, 56, said he went around the table to confront Fazeli, and threw him to the ground. He said Fazeli pulled a knife out of his pocket and shouted, “I’ll kill you.”
Peters and Fazeli tussled. Fazeli was unable to open his switchblade, perhaps because it was defective or perhaps because he was struggling with Peters.
At any rate, Fazeli soon ran off. Police were summoned. They caught up with Fazeli and searched him, finding the switchblade, which is illegal in California.
In Fazeli’s first court appearance, his attorney, Frederick Remer, said Fazeli was the victim of an attack by Peters, not the other way around, and had acted in self-defense.
Fazeli faces charges of possessing a switchblade, brandishing a weapon, criminal threats and felony assault.
Fazeli’s sister, Natasha Fazeli, posted on Facebook that it was candidate Peters who attacked her brother first, arguing that her brother was simply defending himself. “Peters is encouraging his supporters to bully our family as a way to bring attention to his political career,” she wrote.
Fazeli’s mother, Dolly Adams, also told a local television station her son was the victim.
Reporters who checked Fazeli’s Facebook page said it was filled with anti-Trump statements dating back two years.
On his Facebook page, Fazeli says he works as a security guard at Costco.
The website heavy.com said Fazeli has previous convictions for burglary and battery, according to Alameda County court records.
Peters told the San Francisco Chronicle, “It’s a shame. People are just polarized right now, and this country’s divided and it’s just a mess. It shouldn’t be that way.”