Terror Threat Suspect Makes Second Court Appearance

MANHATTAN, January 11– Din Bajrektarevic sat quietly waiting in the hallway outside of the Part F courtroom in New York City Criminal Courthouse. The City College of New York (CCNY) student faces felony charges for threatening another student and to “shoot up” the Harlem campus. The courthouse hallway buzzed softly with whispered conversations between lawyers, clients, and concerned family members, but 21-year-old Bajrektarevic hardly spoke to the older man who arrived with him. 

Bajrektarevic looked nothing like the photo CCNY Public Safety shared of him in November.

His hair, previously shoulder-length, was close-cropped. And he looked like a clean-cut college student in his khaki pants and crisply-tailored shirt.  

Bajrektarevic, who describes himself on LinkedIn as an “aspiring designer and business owner,” was arrested on November 25 and charged with sending racist and violent messages to a classmate two days earlier. In a group chat, he allegedly threatened to “shoot up the school,” according to the criminal complaint.

This was Bajrektarevic’s second appearance in criminal court. When he was arraigned on the day of his arrest, he was charged with aggravated harassment in the second degree as a hate crime, harassment in the first degree as a hate crime, and aggravated harassment in the second degree.  He was released without bail. 

At the January hearing, Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Elizabeth Kuehn said, “There has been no grand jury action, and there’s no offer of recommendation at this time.” That means the case has not been referred for trial and the door is open for Bajrektarevic’s attorney Jeff Greco, a former prosecutor, to make a deal, or in legal terms a “proffer.” ADA Kuehn told Judge Lumarie Maldonado-Cruz, “… defense counsel is waiving time in order to get the assigned’s [Bajrektarevic’s] mental health records and potentially set up a proffer.”

Defense attorney Jeffrey Greco said he provided medical records to the district attorney. “We got them last night, so we would have emailed them last night.” He acknowledged that the district attorney “may not even have put eyeballs on them yet.”

Judge Maldonado-Cruz ordered Bajrektarevic back to court on March 13th while the district attorney evaluates the records. In the meantime she said the, “Temporary order of protection [for the complaining victim] remains in effect.”

That order of protection was issued at the November arraignment and transcripts offer dramatic details about the concerns of the judge and district attorney. Judge Maldonado-Cruz said,“While this case is pending you need to stay completely away from [the complaining victim], completely away.”  The order of protection prohibits Bajrektarevic from going anywhere near the student who made the complaint, or approaching him through someone else.

Then Assistant District Attorney Eun Bi Kim told the judge that, “The defendant lives with his dad, and his dad has access to weapons as he works at A1 Security and has a conceal carry permit in New Jersey.” 

Bajrektarevic called out, “There is no firearm in the home.” The judge quickly admonished him for not allowing his attorney to speak for him. His appointed lawyer, Julie Sender of the Legal Aid Society, said, “I don’t have any reason to believe that my client has any access to his father’s guns. I also don’t have any reason to believe the guns are in the house.”

Bajrektarevic spoke out several times during the arraignment to try to explain himself and the judge repeatedly silenced him. The final time she said, “You’ll have the opportunity at trial to present your side. That is not tonight, tonight is your arraignment.” She went on to say, “So far you have shown me that you are unable to follow court instructions, so be quiet.”

But at the recent January hearing, Bajrektarevic appeared calm and remained silent as he stood before the judge while the attorneys discussed his case. There was no mention of guns. And Judge Maldonado-Cruz agreed to let Bajrektarevic return to City College for the spring semester. 

But that may not be so simple. After City College public safety officers arrested Bajrektarevic in November, the college barred him from campus, according to an email sent by Pat Morena, CCNY’s executive director of public safety. CCNY Public Safety denied Harlem View’s request for comment, “as there is an active/ongoing investigation.” 

Many people in the college community felt frightened when news of the threat first broke. “I felt very threatened and very scared because everyone’s young here, everyone’s trying to make a life and everyone’s trying to live in this world that’s hard to live in now,” Alicia Persad, an architecture major, told Harlem View in November.  

Bajrektarevic did not talk to us at the courthouse. But we reached out a week later, by email, to see if he wanted to explain what happened. He initially agreed to an interview and indicated that he didn’t intend to hurt anyone or frighten students at City College. But after speaking with his attorney he asked that the details of the conversation be off the record. 

While the Manhattan district attorney decides whether to pursue felony charges, the City College community waits for answers. Will Bajrektarevic return to campus for classes in the Spring? Will he issue an apology? What is the status of the university’s “active/ongoing” investigation?” What is going to happen next?