Jordanian national Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen was arrested after causing $700,000 in damage to a solar power plant in Wedgefield, Florida. He was charged on Thursday with four counts of threatening to use explosives and destroying an energy facility because of his support for Israel.
Hnaihen, 43, a resident of Orlando, was arrested on July 11 after a threatening note was discovered at an Orlando propane depot. He was remanded in custody at his detention hearing on Thursday.
According to court documents, Hnaihen targeted and attacked various Florida businesses in the middle of the night and while wearing a mask because of their perceived support of Israel.
The letters found to the US government mentioned threats to “blow up everything here in America. Especially the companies and factories that support the racist state of Israel,” as well as various political demands.
Before the attack on the solar power plant, Hnaihen smashed the glass doors of the affected shops and left “warning letters” threatening to destroy them.
Several weeks before his arrest, Hnaihen broke into a solar power plant in Wedgefield and spent hours destroying solar panels, cutting wires and damaging electronic equipment, causing more than $700,000 in damage.
“Such acts and threats will not be tolerated.”
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said: “We allege that the defendant threatened to commit mass violence in our country out of hate, motivated in part by a desire to target businesses for their perceived support of Israel.”
“Such acts of violence and threats of violence are extremely dangerous and will not be tolerated by the Department of Justice, whether they are directed against places where Americans spend time every day or against our nation’s critical infrastructure,” he continued.
If charged, Hnaihen faces ten years in prison for each of the threats and twenty years in prison for destroying an energy facility.
