The Delaware County District Attorney's Criminal Investigation Division is probing a racist, Islamophobic voicemail that threatened to kill Sheriff Siddiq Kamara, the county announced Monday.
The threatening message was left with the Sheriff's Office over the weekend. Delaware County Council, in a formal statement released from Media, called the voicemail "a disturbing, Islamophobic, and racist threat of violence" that "specifically threatened Sheriff Kamara."
No suspect has been identified publicly, and the DA's office has not announced a timeline for the investigation. The CID, led by Chief Vincent Ficchi, coordinates with police departments across the county's 49 municipalities, including in Radnor and Haverford.
Council condemns threat
Delaware County Council drew a sharp line between political speech and targeted violence in its statement: "Spirited disagreement with public officials is one thing, violent threats and attacks based on race and creed are quite another. Violence — or the threatening of its use — have no place in a democracy."
Council members Chair Richard Womack, Vice Chair Christine Reuther, Dr. Monica Taylor, Elaine Paul Schaefer and Joanne Phillips said they "stand together with Sheriff Siddiq Kamara and the entire team of the Delaware County Sheriff's Office."
CAIR-Philadelphia, the local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, also condemned the voicemail on Monday.
Who is Sheriff Kamara?
Kamara, 30, made history when he was sworn in on Monday, January 5, as the first person of Liberian descent to hold the office in Delaware County and the youngest sheriff in the United States, according to the county's official profile. He is also the county's first Muslim elected sheriff, according to CAIR-Philadelphia.
A first-generation Liberian American raised in Upper Darby, Kamara served six years in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and worked as a Yeadon police officer and an agent with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office before winning election in 2025.
His path to law enforcement was shaped by personal loss. In 2021, his 8-year-old cousin, Fanta Bility, was killed when police fired into a crowd at a local event. Kamara later founded the Fanta Bility Foundation to push for improved police training.
Kamara posted audio of the threatening voicemail and addressed the incident publicly, according to NBC10 Philadelphia and the Delaware County Times.
What comes next
District Attorney Tanner Rouse's office has not provided a timeline for the investigation or indicated whether charges are expected. The county statement said officials "look forward to the conclusion of this investigation and in building a safer Delaware County."
Residents who have information related to the threat can contact the Delaware County District Attorney's Criminal Investigation Division.
