Freelancer for Michigan Anti-Israel Publication Threatened to Kill Jews, Feds Say

Federal authorities last week arrested a freelancer for a Michigan anti-Israel publication after he allegedly threatened to kill Jews.

Jeffrey Stevens, who lives in Ft. Wayne, Ind., allegedly sent messages to both local police and the CIA saying he was going to kill Jews and American government officials who supported Israel, the Detroit News reported Monday, citing an affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana. Stevens writes for the Arab American News, based in Dearborn, Mich., an anti-Israel publication whose publisher President Joe Biden's administration has courted for support.

"I am going to kill every Jew in ft. Wayne, and there is nothing you can do to stop it because you are stupid n—ers," Stevens allegedly wrote to the Ft. Wayne Police Department's Facebook account in November, per the Detroit News. "I am going to make sure I kill every one of you, especially the dark ones, and there is nothing you stupid n—ers can [do] about it."

Days earlier, he allegedly wrote to the CIA via its website that he would "shoot every pro-israel US government official in the head," the outlet reported. Authorities also said that he told the CIA on Oct. 8—a day after Hamas's terror attacks that began Israel's war in Gaza—that the agency would be destroyed if the United States strikes the "Palestinian resistance," adding that he could not "wait until CIA operatives start getting eliminated." In another alleged message from September, he said he would like to "be involved with anything against not exactly Israel, but Netanyahu's far-right government that will cause problems for the US," referencing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Stevens told federal agents he was drunk when he sent the messages, according to the Detroit News. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on charges of communicating a threat across state lines.

"He didn't actually work for us, although his articles are on our website," Arab American News publisher Osama Siblani told the Detroit News. "He's definitely against Israel 100%. ... We didn't post most of the stuff he sent us because it didn't meet our editorial standards."

Stevens's byline on Siblani's publication has 45 articles attributed to it. The earliest was in November 2022, and the most recent is from November 2023.

The Washington Free Beacon reported this month that White House officials planned to meet with Siblani in a bid to bolster support for Biden among Arab and Muslim voters, who have soured on the president due to his handling of the war in Gaza. Siblani in December called Biden "Genocide Joe." In 2003, he said Hamas and Hezbollah were "freedom fighters."

The post Freelancer for Michigan Anti-Israel Publication Threatened to Kill Jews, Feds Say appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.