Donovan Hall carried out a three-month campaign of intimidation, terror, and harassment against the Jewish victims, amounting to over 1000 threats.
A man who stalked and made interstate antisemitic threats against Jewish New Yorkers has been sentenced to 49 months in prison, the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York announced. Donovan Hall carried out a three-month campaign of intimidation, terror, and harassment against the Jewish victims, amounting to over 1000 threats. These included antisemitic and violent threats to torture, mutilate, rape, and murder the Jewish victims and their families.
A noted escalation was in August 2024, when Hall made dozens of threatening phone calls to the Jewish owner of the Blue Moon Hotel in Manhattan and the owner’s family members, and hotel staff.
During these calls, he threatened numerous times to kill the victims. Then, in October 2024, he texted photographs of two firearms and a machete to the hotel owner, along with threats to use those weapons to harm the owner and his family.
The firearms depicted in the text messages, among other weapons, were ultimately seized from his property during a raid at his home in Arizona on November 22, 2024. One of the firearms was loaded, but neither was registered in his name. The DA noted that Hall consistently used violent and threatening language and often targeted Jews.
Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Stefanie Roddy, the Special Agent in Charge of the Newark Field Office of the FBI, said the sentence imposed shows that justice will be brought to those who “perpetrate senseless crimes of hate.” Special Agent in Charge Roddy said, “Hall’s sentencing speaks volumes about the severity of his crimes, and the seriousness with which the law takes them.”
“After being remanded for approximately 10 months, Hall’s guilty plea still resulted in the near-maximum sentence allowed for his calculated campaign of anti-Semitic rhetoric.”
Roddy sent a warning to those who think “they can hide behind computers, phone lines, and texts,” noting that the FBI “will not relent in seeking justice for the victims of these egregious crimes.”
Harassment of hoteliers
The historic Blue Moon Hotel is home to the only kosher-certified hotel-based restaurant and café in Manhattan. “This hotel is filled with a love of New York City and a love of the Jewish life that flourished here,” owner Randy Settenbrino told The Media Line at the time of the harassment campaign.
The family said at the time that they believed the catalyst was that their oldest son, Bram Settenbrino, served in the Israel Defense Forces.
Bram Settenbrino was doxed on social media wearing his IDF uniform, along with comments such as “This hotel belongs to a Jewish terror family and needs to be closed in one way or another. No mercy.” The hotel was also vandalized, and negative reviews were written on travel websites.
Flyers displayed Bram’s picture with messages like “Boycott the Blue Moon Hotel: No racists, Islamophobes, Zionists,” while others labeled him a “war criminal.” The harassment has caused a 30% drop in business for the Blue Moon compared to last year, according to Settenbrino at the time.
Aside from Hall, the Instagram account Stop Arab Hate posted videos of Bram in the army and included the family’s contact information.