‘Explode everything’: Jordanian charged for threats to bomb US businesses perceived to support Israel

Hnaihen faces five charges, four related to his threatening letters and one for wreaking havoc on the energy facility, crimes for which he may, if convicted, spend the rest of his natural life in prison.

By Dion J. Pierre, The Algemeiner

US law enforcement officials have arrested and charged a Jordanian national who allegedly attacked an energy facility and threatened to bomb businesses that he deemed supportive of Israel, the Justice Department announced on Thursday.

According to federal prosecutors, the alleged crimes of Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, 43, began earlier this summer, with his vandalizing small businesses in Orange County, Florida, and leaving “Warning Letters” addressed to the US government in which he vowed to “destroy or explode everything here in America. Especially the companies and factories that support the racist state of Israel.”

As other anti-Israel agitators have done, Hnaihen concealed his face with a mask, which complicated efforts to identify him.

In late June, according to the Justice Department, Hnaihen breached an energy facility in Wedgefield, Florida, where he “smashed” scores of solar panels and damaged other “electronic equipment.”

The spree of infrastructure sabotage lasted “for hours,” the department added, destroying $700,000 worth of technology.

In his last alleged act, in early July, Hnaihen left a final warning letter at an industrial propane gas distribution depot located in the city of Orlando. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department arrested him on July 11.

“We allege that the defendant threatened to carry out hate-fueled mass violence in our country, motivated in part by a desire to target businesses for their perceived support of Israel,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Thursday.

“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 by the Justice Department.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray added,” Violence and destruction of property to threaten and intimidate others will never be tolerated. The FBI and our partners will work together to pursue and hold accountable those who resort to violence.”

Hnaihen faces five charges, four related to his threatening letters and one for wreaking havoc on the energy facility, crimes for which he may, if convicted, spend the rest of his natural life in prison.

His “Warning Letters” alone, each of which carries 10-year maximum sentences, would keep him behind bars for 40 years, at which time he will be an octogenarian. His fifth charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The 43 year old is not the first person whose alleged anti-Israel or anti-Jewish actions prompted the involvement of the federal government.

On Monday, the Justice Department announced that former Cornell University student Patrick Dai, who threatened to perpetrate heinous crimes against members of the school’s Jewish community after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.

Last October, Dai raised the possibility of antisemitic violence at Cornell when he posted several statements calling for murdering Jews and raping Jewish women on a popular social media forum.

In addition to threatening the lives of Cornell’s 3,500 Jewish students, who are 22 percent of the school’s student population, the posts threatened an attack on a campus kosher dining hall — named 104West — affiliated with the Steven K. And Winifred A. Grinspoon Hillel Center.

“Gonna shoot up 104 west… Allahu akbar! from the river to the sea, palestine will be free! glory to hamas! liberation by any means necessary!” one of his posts said.

Another read, “If I see a pig male jew i will stab you and slit your throat. if i see another pig female jew i will drag you away and rape you and throw you off a cliff. if i see another pig baby jew i will behead you in front of your parents [sic].”

The Justice Department said Dai also vowed to “bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig Jews.”

“The defendant’s threats terrorized the Cornell campus community for days and shattered the community’s sense of safety,” Carla Freedman, US attorney for the Northern District of New York, said in a statement on Monday.

“My office will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute threats and acts of violence motivated by antisemitism and hatred of any kind.

Antisemitismbomb threatsHashem Younis Hashem HnaihenJordanVandalism