US arrests Jordanian for explosives threats, attack on energy facility

ISTANBUL

A Jordanian citizen in the US was arrested for explosives threats and attack on an energy facility, the Justice Department said Thursday.

Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, 43, residing in Orlando, Florida, is charged with four counts of threatening to use explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility.


Hnaihen was ordered detained pending trial at his detention hearing on Wednesday, it said.


The Treasury Department alleges that Hnaihen threatened to carry out "hate-fueled mass violence" in the US, partly motivated by "a desire to target businesses for their perceived support of Israel."

"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," Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.

Starting around June, Hnaihen targeted and attacked businesses in the Orlando area for their perceived support for Israel, according to court documents.


Hnaihen, while wearing a mask and under the cover of night, smashed the glass front doors of businesses and left behind "Warning Letters," said the Justice Department.

The letters were addressed to the US government, in which Hnaihen laid out a series of political demands, culminating in a threat to "destroy or explode everything here in whole America. Especially the companies and factories that support the racist state of Israel," it added.

Hnaihen, in addition, broke into a solar power generation facility in Wedgefield, Florida, at the end of June, and spent hours to systematically destroy solar panel arrays, according to the Justice Department.

"He smashed panels, cut wires, and targeted critical electronic equipment," it added. "Hnaihen left behind two more copies of his threatening demand letter."

The individual is estimated to have caused more than $700,000 in damage, said the Justice Department.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each threat offense and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the destruction of an energy facility offense.