A man threatened to repeatedly rape City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, then murder her family, and also threatened to kill all of New York City's gay and lesbian police officers, authorities say.
Daniel Silvera allegedly made the threats in July 28 emails sent to Mark-Viverito; to Det. Brian Downey, the president of the NYPD's Gay Officers Action League; and to three officer's from the NYPD's LGBT Outreach Unit.
Silvera was arraigned Tuesday in Manhattan criminal court on charges including 16 counts of aggravated harassment as a hate crime. He is represented by The Legal Aid Society, which declined to comment on Wednesday. A judge set bail at $50,000.
According to a complaint filed by the Manhattan district attorney's office, Silvera told an investigator that he created the email account and sent the threats.
A spokeswoman for Mark-Viverito, Robin Levine, thanked prosecutors and said the "violent, dangerous threats" are "deeply disturbing."
