A Jordanian citizen living in Orlando broke into an energy plant in Wedgefield, Fla., where he smashed equipment, causing about $700,000 in damage.
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“Such acts and threats of violence, whether they are targeting the places that Americans frequent every day or our country’s critical infrastructure, are extremely dangerous and will not be tolerated,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.
A Jordanian citizen living in Orlando was charged with vandalizing storefronts, smashing solar panels and threatening to use explosives during a spree of escalating attacks targeting people and businesses he believed supported Israel, federal prosecutors said on Thursday.
Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, 43, is accused of engaging in several nighttime attacks on property that resulted in no injuries and that began June, according to documents unsealed in the Middle District of Florida. But he appeared to be progressing toward bigger targets with potentially deadly results.
Prosecutors said Mr. Hnaihen, who wore a mask to conceal his identity, began by breaking the glass front doors of local businesses. Soon after, he broke into a solar power generation facility in Wedgefield, Fla., where he smashed panels, cut wires and busted electronic equipment — causing about $700,000 in damage.
At each site, he left behind several “warning letters,” directed at the U.S. government with demands, culminating in a threat to “destroy or explode everything here in whole America” — especially “companies and factories that support the racist state of Israel,” he wrote, according to the filing.
The charges come as law enforcement officials have voiced heightened concern about terrorist attacks by individuals or groups spurred by Israel’s war in Gaza.
ImageMr. Hnaihen was charged with smashing solar panels in Wedgefield, Fla., where he spent hours smashing panels, cutting wires, and busting up electronic equipment — causing about $700,000 in damage. Credit…Department of Justice
Mr. Hnaihen was arrested on July 11 — two days after employees at an industrial propane gas depot in Orlando found a menacing letter he had posted outside the facility. No one was hurt, but operations at the facility were disrupted while a fire department hazmat team searched for explosives or other dangerous materials.
Mr. Hnaihen is charged with four counts of threatening to use explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility and faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted. Earlier this week, a federal judge ordered Mr. Hnaihen to remain in custody pending his trial.
In arguing against his release, the government claimed he posed a serious threat to the community and introduced evidence that he lied about his citizenship status during an unsuccessful attempt to buy a firearm and ammunition from a gun store in Orlando in February.
“Such acts and threats of violence, whether they are targeting the places that Americans frequent every day or our country’s critical infrastructure, are extremely dangerous and will not be tolerated,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.
The federal public defender representing him did not respond to a request for comment.
Glenn Thrush covers the Department of Justice and has also written about gun violence, civil rights and conditions in the country’s jails and prisons. More about Glenn Thrush
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Source: nytimes.com
