Jordanian man gets 6 years for attacking Florida power facility, businesses over support of Israel

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Jordanian man living in central Florida accused of causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage at a solar power facility and vandalizing multiple private businesses over their perceived support for the state of Israel was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison.

Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, 44, was sentenced in Orlando federal court, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in December to threatening to use explosives and destruction of an energy facility. A restitution hearing will be held to address the more than $450,000 in damage, officials said.

“Threatening to commit mass violence against American citizens and targeting businesses or institutions for destruction will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Gregory W. Kehoe said in a statement.

According to court records, Hnaihen began going to businesses at night while wearing a mask last June and smashing the front doors. Prosecutors said Hnaihen left behind “warning letters,” which were addressed to the United States government. The letters 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.”

Near the end of June, Hnaihen broke into a solar power generation facility in Wedgefield, Florida, investigators said. He spent several hours systematically destroying solar panel arrays, officials said. Two more copies of the warning letter were left behind.

After a multiagency investigation, Hnaihen was arrested July 11 on local charges after another warning letter was discovered at an industrial propane gas distribution depot in Orlando, officials said. He was transferred to federal custody after his indictment.