Joseph Neumeyer, who can be a German citizen, approached the constructing on Could 19 with Molotov cocktails, officers say.
A twin United States and German citizen has been arrested on costs that he travelled to Israel and tried to firebomb the department workplace of the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, federal prosecutors in New York have mentioned.
Israeli officers deported Joseph Neumeyer to New York on Saturday and he had an preliminary court docket look earlier than a federal choose in Brooklyn on Sunday. His legal grievance was unsealed on Sunday.
Prosecutors say Neumeyer walked as much as the embassy constructing on Could 19 with a backpack containing Molotov cocktails, however acquired right into a confrontation with a guard and finally ran away, dropping his backpack because the guard tried to detain him.
Legislation enforcement then tracked Neumeyer all the way down to a lodge just a few blocks away from the embassy and arrested him, in accordance with a legal grievance filed within the Japanese District of New York.
“This defendant is charged with planning a devastating assault focusing on our embassy in Israel, threatening demise to People, and [US] President [Donald] Trump’s life,” US Lawyer Common Pam Bondi mentioned in an announcement. “The Division won’t tolerate such violence and can prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the legislation.”
Neumeyer’s court-appointed lawyer, Jeff Dahlberg, declined to remark.
The assault passed off towards the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing lethal battle on Gaza, now in its nineteenth month. Almost 54,000 Palestinians have been killed within the blockaded enclave, the place a famine is now looming as Israeli forces proceed to seal very important border crossings and uphold a crippling blockade on humanitarian assist together with meals, medication, and gasoline.
Neumeyer, 28, who’s initially from Colorado and has twin US and German citizenship, had travelled from the US to Canada in early February after which arrived in Israel in late April, in accordance with court docket data.
He had made a collection of threatening social media posts earlier than making an attempt the assault, prosecutors mentioned.
Throughout his first time period, Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital regardless of Palestinian objections, in a transfer that has not been recognised by the worldwide group. He additionally moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.
