Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, 43, a Jordanian citizen residing in Orlando, Florida, is charged with four counts of threatening to use explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility. At his detention hearing yesterday, Hnaihen was ordered detained pending trial.
According to court documents, beginning around June 2024, Hnaihen targeted and attacked businesses in the Orlando area for their perceived support for Israel. Wearing a mask, under the cover of night, Hnaihen smashed the glass front doors of businesses and left behind “Warning Letters.”
In his letters, which were addressed to the United States government, Hnaihen 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.”
At the end of June, as law enforcement worked to identify the masked attacker, Hnaihen broke into a solar power generation facility in Wedgefield, Florida, and spent hours systematically destroying solar panel arrays. He smashed panels, cut wires and targeted critical electronic equipment.
Hnaihen left behind two more copies of his threatening demand letter. Hnaihen is believed to have caused more than $700,000 in damage.
Following a multiagency effort, law enforcement identified Hnaihen and arrested him on July 11, shortly after another “Warning Letter” threatening to “destroy or explode everything” was discovered at an industrial propane gas distribution depot in Orlando.
Hnaihen is charged with four counts of threatening to use explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each threat offense and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the destruction of an energy facility offense.
The FBI and Orange County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the case, with assistance by Maitland Police Department, Winter Park Police Department and Orlando Police Department.
