{"id":399828,"date":"2026-07-15T21:07:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T21:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/399828\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T21:07:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T21:07:17","slug":"san-jose-state-university-graduate-student-ziheng-tony-fang-federally-charged-for-racist-threat-found-on-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/399828\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose State University graduate student Ziheng ‘Tony’ Fang federally charged for racist threat found on campus"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — A San Jose State University graduate student was arrested and federally charged after authorities say he left a racist and threatening note in a campus restroom, an incident that disrupted classes and spread fear throughout the campus community.<\/p>\n

Ziheng “Tony” Fang, 30, appeared in federal court this week on a charge of false information and hoaxes. Prosecutors allege he left a note in a campus bathroom in October containing a threat and hateful statements directed at Muslims, Asians and Jews.<\/p>\n

Associate Professor Philip Heller, who has previously spoken about hateful graffiti on campus, welcomed the charges.<\/p>\n

“It’s quite a relief,” Heller said.<\/p>\n

According to investigators, the message read in part, “Warning! Mass bomb next week,” along with other hateful statements.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A hate note found on San Jose State University’s campus is pictured.<\/p>\n

KGO-TV<\/p>\n

Authorities said they found Fang’s fingerprints on the paper. Investigators also determined he had accessed the building with his keycard on multiple occasions and was seen entering and leaving the bathroom where the note was discovered.<\/p>\n

University police have reported 20 incidents of hateful graffiti on campus since October 2024, according to information cited in the investigation.<\/p>\n

MORE: San Jose State investigating graffiti found on campus calling for ‘eradication of Jews’<\/a><\/p>\n

In a statement, a university spokesperson said campus leaders were grateful an arrest had been made and charges filed.<\/p>\n

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to fostering a campus where every member of our community can learn, work, and thrive free from hate and intimidation,” the statement from SJSU Senior Director of Media Relations Michelle Smith McDonald said in part.<\/p>\n

Heller also expressed hope that investigators determine whether the suspect is connected to other incidents.<\/p>\n

MORE: Increased security at SJSU after racist graffiti threatening mass shooting found on campus<\/a><\/p>\n

“I’m very happy that this has happened. And I hope that this perpetrator is the one who has done all the rather many anti-Semitic graffiti that has happened in the past couple of years,” he said.<\/p>\n

Legal analyst Steven Clark said federal authorities became involved because the alleged conduct affected students on a public university campus. He said prosecutors and defense attorneys will likely focus on the intent behind the message.<\/p>\n

“San Jose State had to take these threats very seriously. So it doesn’t matter if it was a prank or a legitimate threat. It’s treated the same way under the law,” Clark said.<\/p>\n

If convicted, Fang faces up to five years in federal prison for the alleged incident. Clark said potential penalties could increase if authorities connect him to other campus incidents.<\/p>\n

\"Now<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — A San Jose State University graduate student was arrested and federally charged after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[160497,88,90,89],"class_list":["post-399828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-160497","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}