Security has risen worldwide after Israeli embassy staff were shot dead
Security and safety concerns have risen around the world after two staff members at the Israeli Embassy were fatally shot outside the DC Jewish Museum.
The Justice Department said double citizens from the US and Germany were arrested and arrested for attempting to fire a branch of the US embassy in New York.
Joseph Neumeyer, 28, was arrested by a special FBI agent at John F. Kennedy International Airport on May 25 after being deported by Israeli authorities, the Justice Department said in a news release. He was accused of attempting to destroy a fire or explosive US embassy, according to unsealed criminal charges filed in the Eastern District of New York.
Neumayer was first ordered to appear before a federal judge in New York City and was detained, the Department of Justice said. If convicted, he faces a $250,000 fine in prison for up to 20 years.
“The defendant plans a catastrophic attack targeting an Israeli embassy and a death-threatening attack on the lives of Americans and President Trump,” Attorney General Pamela Bondy said in a statement. “The department will not tolerate such violence and will prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the law.”
The arrest was killed after two staff members of the Israeli Embassy came in Washington, D.C. on the evening of May 21, when Jaron Lisinski and Sarah Lynn Milgrim left the event at the Capital Jewish Museum.
Elias Rodriguez, 31, suspected in the shooting, faces federal and local murder charges along with firearm crimes, authorities said on May 22. US and Israeli officials condemned the shooting, and FBI Deputy Director Don Bongino called it “an act of targeted violence.”
In response to the incident, the Israeli Embassy promptly promoted security measures, USA Today reported earlier.
Criminal Complaint: Neumeier threatened a social media post before attempting an attack
Neumeier arrived in Israel in April, according to the complaint. He then traveled to the US Embassy branch in Tel Aviv on May 19, where he visited a backpack containing three basic improvisation agitators known as Molotov cocktails, the complaint states.
“Without provocation, he was spat by the embassy security guards as he passed,” the Justice Department said. “The guard tried to restrain him and left his backpack, so Neumeyer managed to get free.”
Israeli law enforcement officials searched for their backpacks, where they discovered Molotov cocktails and later pursued Neumeier to their hotel. He was arrested and Israeli authorities returned him to the United States on May 25th.
Further investigations from Neumayer revealed that he posted on social media earlier that day on May 19, stating “Death to America, Death to Americans and West while burning the embassy in Tel Aviv.”
Federal prosecutors added that investigators are allegedly shown that the social media accounts used by Neumeyer had made a post threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump.
Recent incidents have taken place amid the ongoing conflict between Hamas in Israel
The recent incident came amid growing criticism of Israel after it announced plans to strengthen its military campaign against Hamas and control Gaza. More than 53,000 people have been killed, and almost all Gaza residents have been evacuated since the start of the war.
The war has raised tensions between Israel and much of the international community. Relations became even more tense when Israeli soldiers fired warning shots near the occupied West Bank diplomatic delegation, and Italy and France were summoned to summon Israeli ambassadors, according to Reuters.
The number of cases of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in response to the war has also surged across the United States, bringing high vigilance to law enforcement. Advocacy groups report record numbers of discrimination and hate cases.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called him shooting “despicable hatred, anti-Semitist acts” on May 21, saying the incident is linked to the increasingly hostile climate Israel faces in the war in Gaza. Netanyahu himself faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Gaza, which Israeli politicians condemned as part of a broader effort to outlaw the Israeli state.
Contribution: Reuters
