A dual US-German citizen accused of attempting to firebomb a US embassy building in Israel was arrested at New York's JFK Airport on Sunday. According to the US Department of Justice, 28-year-old Joseph Neumeyer was apprehended by Israeli police, who deported him to the United States and handed him over to FBI agents.
“As alleged, Neumeyer, armed with potentially lethal devices, sought to cause chaos and destruction at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella for the Eastern District of New York. “His arrest and prosecution clearly show that my Office and the Department of Justice will not tolerate violence in our homeland or violence targeting U.S. interests abroad.” He faces up to 20 years in prison on charges of using fire or an explosive to destroy US property, and has been denied bail.
The DOJ says that, without provocation, Neumeyer spat on a US embassy guard in Tel Aviv on May 19. The guard tried to grab him, but Neumeyer squirmed away and fled, leaving behind a backpack that smelled of alcohol. When it was searched, the bag was found to contain three Molotov cocktails. Israeli police tracked him down to the hotel where he was staying. He confirmed his backpack had Molotov cocktails filled with vodka, and he was promptly apprehended.
Authorities say Neumeyer had made his intention clear earlier that same day with a social media post that said, “Join me as I burn down the embassy in Tel Aviv. Death to America.” Other rants on social media believed to be Neumeyer's threatened violence against President Trump and Elon Musk. “We are killing Trump and Musk now,” he's believed to have posted on March 22. Another post that month addressed to the Justice Department said, “The former President has several hours to resign or certain death.” A May 19 entry said "Death to America. Death to the West."
According to the criminal complaint, Neumeyer was born in Colorado and lived in the United States all his life. He was registered to vote, but selected no party affiliation. A New York Post review of Neumeyer's social media posts paints a vague picture of his ideology:
His politics appear to be an incomprehensible grab-bag...He posted “From the River to the Sea,” a popular anti-Israel rallying cry, along with “long live the Fourth Reich,” but also appeared to support Israel’s Eurovision candidate. He also posted pro-Russian and anti-Ukraine propaganda, along with [support for] overturning British rule of Northern Ireland.
Vodka is a crummy choice for a Molotov cocktail: It typically must be warmed to about 130 degrees before it will ignite. Awarding the raving, harebrained goofball's half-assed plot far more weight than it deserves, publicity hound, Epstein-file-tease and US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said Neumeyer was "planning a devastating attack targeting our embassy in Israel."
While news of Neumeyer's arrest broke after Wednesday's double-murder of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington by a gunman who said "I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza," the incident in Tel Aviv took place two days earlier. He arrived in Israel on April 23, but it's unclear what he was up to between his arrival and his bizarre spitting attack that vaporized his Molotov cocktail fantasies. His father told the Washington Post that his son has dealt with "deep mental health issues."
There's a lot of that going around.
