Joseph Neumeyer, who can also 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 prices 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 felony criticism was unsealed on Sunday.
Prosecutors say Neumeyer walked as much as the embassy constructing on Could 19 with a backpack containing Molotov cocktails, however bought right into a confrontation with a guard and finally ran away, dropping his backpack because the guard tried to detain him.
Regulation enforcement then tracked Neumeyer all the way down to a resort a couple of blocks away from the embassy and arrested him, in line with a felony criticism filed within the Japanese District of New York.
“This defendant is charged with planning a devastating assault concentrating on our embassy in Israel, threatening loss of life to Individuals, and [US] President [Donald] Trump’s life,” US Legal professional Normal Pam Bondi mentioned in an announcement. “The Division won’t tolerate such violence and can prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the regulation.”
Neumeyer’s court-appointed legal professional, Jeff Dahlberg, declined to remark.
The assault passed off in opposition to the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing lethal conflict on Gaza, now in its nineteenth month. Practically 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 support together with meals, drugs, and gas.
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 line with court docket information.
He had made a collection of threatening social media posts earlier than trying 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 neighborhood. He additionally moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.
