(José Niño, Headline USA) Federal agents took a San Jose State University graduate student into custody this week, accusing him of flooding the campus with phony bomb threats and bigoted notes that disrupted operations for months, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday, according to Patch.
Ziheng “Tony” Fang, 30, who lives in San Jose, California made his first court appearance Friday and faces a charge of false information and hoaxes, officials told Patch.
An unexpected wrinkle has drawn plenty of eyes. Court records researcher Seamus Hughes pointed out the irony on X, writing, “It made local and national news (and spurred congressional inquiries) when a series of antisemitic and bigoted messages were written on bathroom stalls around San Jose State University last year. No one ever really follows up. On Friday, the feds allege it was, Ziheng Fang, a man with a “100% woke” in his TikTok bio doing it as a hoax.”
It made local and national news (and spurred congressional inquiries) when a series of antisemitic and bigoted messages were written on bathroom stalls around San Jose State University last year. No one ever really follows up. On Friday, the feds allege it was, Ziheng Fang, a… pic.twitter.com/nACazYzlzw
— Seamus Hughes (@SeamusHughes) July 13, 2026
A criminal complaint alleges Fang started fixing threatening notes to the walls of men’s and gender neutral restrooms around campus as early as October 2024. Patch reports that a lot of the notes singled out attack dates and laid out threats of bombs, shootings, and other violence, while showing hate symbols directed at several racial and religious groups.
One note appeared on Nov. 5, 2025, warning of a mass bombing in the coming days. According to the DOJ complaint, that message opened with “!WARNING! MASS BOMB NEXT WEEK” and displayed several swastikas. Investigators told Patch they recovered Fang’s fingerprint from the paper.
Patch reports that campus police tracked more than 20 threatening notes between October 2024 and May 2026. The complaint says Fang’s university key card records placed him in the buildings shortly before officers found 16 of the 18 notes sitting behind key card doors, and video showed him near the restroom areas where several messages later surfaced.
The alleged campaign forced the university to send out warning after warning, Patch reports, and led some professors to call off in person classes or teach online. Campus police took a barrage of calls from anxious students and staff, and the buildings named in the notes stood nearly empty on the dates the threats specified.
Fang, who is working toward a master’s degree in data science at San Jose State, remains in federal custody and was scheduled to appear again Monday, according to Patch. The FBI conducted the investigation with support from the San Jose State University Police Department. A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and Fang keeps the presumption of innocence unless prosecutors win a conviction.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
