Syed said he now knows the name of the caller and the other person behind the death threat but, on advice by his legal counsel, he requested this reporter not to print their names.
The caller threatened to chop off his hands, feet and head and kill his family.
Syed said he received a call from the caller’s aunt on Friday, asking him to forgive her nephew.
The auntie told Syed that her nephew was being “influenced” by another person who does not like guest workers asking for improved immigration status.
Syed said the caller’s aunt told him that her nephew and the person who “pushed” him to make death threats were drug users.
Minutes later, Syed said the police called to inform him they already had the identity of the man who made the death threat.
The suspect’s number was recorded on Syed’s cell phone.
Syed’s number was mentioned in the Variety news story titled “Guest Workers Urged to Attend Senate Public Hearings” published on Feb. 18.
On Saturday, the caller spoke with Syed on the phone and apologized.
The caller said he is only 22 years old and was goaded by an older person to make the death threat.
Syed said now that the caller and his family are regretting what has happened, he can now leave his house without bringing his family along all the time.
The death threat, he added, “was very uncomfortable to me and my family. My wife had to stop going to work. My children did not want to go to school. We always look out the window every time we hear a car driving near our house. We were like prisoners in our own house. I and my family had sleepless nights.”
Syed, who is married to a local and has four children, said he would like to thank the caller’s auntie “for her honesty and courage to approach me.”
Her deed, he added, proves once again that “the people here are kind and generous.”
But he said nothing will stop him from speaking the truth and for being the voice of nonresidents seeking improved status.
