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By John Ogunsemore
A 43-year-old Jordanian, Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, has been arraigned in the United States for threatening to carry out hate-fuelled mass violence in the US, motivated in part by a desire to target businesses for their perceived support of Israel.
In a statement on Thursday, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said Hnaihen, a resident of Orlando, Florida, is charged with four counts of threatening to use explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility.
At his detention hearing on Wednesday, the defendant was ordered detained pending trial.
According to court documents, beginning around June 2024, Hnaihen targeted and attacked businesses in the Orlando area for their perceived support for Israel.
“Wearing a mask, under the cover of night, Hnaihen smashed the glass front doors of businesses and left behind ‘Warning Letters’.
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“In his letters, which were addressed to the United States government, 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’.
“Hnaihen’s attacks escalated. At the end of June, as law enforcement worked to identify the masked attacker, Hnaihen broke into a solar power generation facility in Wedgefield, Florida, and spent hours systematically destroying solar panel arrays.
“He smashed panels, cut wires, and targeted critical electronic equipment. Hnaihen left behind two more copies of his threatening demand letter. Hnaihen is believed to have caused more than $700,000 in damage,” the DoJ said.
Following a multiagency effort, law enforcement identified Hnaihen and arrested him on July 11, shortly after another “Warning Letter” threatening to “destroy or explode everything” was discovered at an industrial propane gas distribution depot in Orlando.
Hnaihen is charged with four counts of threatening to use explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each threat offence and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the destruction of an energy facility offence.
