Jordanian citizen Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen was arrested after causing $700,000 in damage to a solar power facility in Wedgefield, Florida, and charged with four counts of threatening the use of explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility for supporting Israel, the US Department of Justice reported on Thursday.
Hnaihen, 43, a resident of Orlando, was arrested on July 11 after a written threat letter was discovered at a propane gas distribution depot in Orlando. Upon his detention hearing on Thursday, he was ordered detained pending trial.
According to court documents, Hnaihen had been targeting and attacking various businesses in Florida based on their perceived support of Israel, in the middle of the night, wearing a mask.
Letters found addressed to the US government mentioned threats to "explode everything here in whole America. Especially the companies and factories that support the racist state of Israel,” as well as various political demands.
Prior to the attack on the solar power facility, Hnaihen had smashed the glass doors to targeted businesses and left them 'warning letters' threatening to destroy them.
Several weeks prior to his arrest, Hnaihen broke into a solar power facility in Wedgefield and spent hours destroying 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 stated, “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."
"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,” he continued.
If charged, Hnaihen faces 10 years for each individual threat offense and a penalty of 20 years in prison for the destruction of an energy facility offense.