Plot to firebomb Palestinian activist’s home disrupted by FBI and NYPD

NEW YORK — A New Jersey man who planned to firebomb the home of a prominent Palestinian activist was arrested Thursday following a weekslong undercover operation, according to a federal complaint and the New York City police department.

The target of the plot was Nerdeen Kiswani, an outspoken Brooklyn-based Palestinian activist who co-founded the group Within Our Lifetime.

Kiswani, 31, said she received a call from an FBI official late Thursday informing her that “a threat on my life was about to take place, and that they had apprehended the threat.”

Authorities said they had arrested the man, Andrew Heifler, as he was assembling Molotov cocktails to throw at Kiswani’s home. For weeks, he had discussed the plot with an undercover official, at one point scoping out Kiswani’s home, the complaint said.

Heifler was charged in a criminal complaint Thursday with two firearms offenses. An online court docket did not list a lawyer for him or information on an initial court appearance.

According to the complaint, Heifler spoke on a video call in February with a group that included an undercover law enforcement officer about his interest in training for “self-defense” and wanting space where he could throw Molotov cocktails.

The next day, the complaint said, Heifler and the undercover officer met in person and he discussed wanting to vandalize Kiswani’s home. She is identified in the document as “Victim-1.” He said he had Kiswani’s address and spoke to the undercover officer about making Molotov cocktails and his plan to flee the country after the attack, the complaint said.

Heifler was planning to leave the country at the end of April but he later told the undercover officer that would be delayed until mid-May, according to the complaint.

On March 4, Heifler and the undercover officer drove to Kiswani’s residence to “conduct surveillance” and discussed making a dozen Molotov cocktails, the complaint said. In addition to throwing them at Kiswani’s home, Heifler suggested throwing two of them at cars parked outside, the complaint said.

On Thursday, the undercover officer and Heifler met at Heifler’s Hoboken residence, the complaint said. Heifler was carrying a large bottle of Everclear, a liquor with a high alcohol content level and had other components to make the Molotov cocktails at his home, the complaint said.

According to the complaint, Heifler reiterated that some of the Molotov cocktails would be thrown directly into Kiswani’s residence, while others would be thrown at cars.

After they built eight Molotov cocktails, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the residence and recovered the eight Molotov cocktails, the complaint said. A preliminary analysis by FBI bomb technicians tested positive for the presence of ethanol and concluded that the Molotov cocktails were destructive devices, the complaint said

Kiswani, 31, said she was shell-shocked by the news, but not surprised.

“I feel very blessed that they were able to thwart this, but it’s something that is a constant possibility for people who speak up on behalf of Palestine,” she said.

Offenhartz and Sisak write for the Associated Press.