Plot to firebomb Palestinian activist’s home thwarted by NYPD undercover operation

A New Jersey man who planned to firebomb the home of a prominent Palestinian activist was arrested Thursday following a weekslong undercover operation led by the New York City Police Department, officials said.

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 a law enforcement official late Thursday informing her that “a threat on my life was about to take place, and that they had apprehended the threat.”

Federal 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 NYPD officer who had infiltrated a group chat used by Heifler, according to a police department spokesperson.

Kiswani was targeted for her pro-Palestinian views, the spokesperson added.

Read more: PBS News