A 51-year-old Los Angeles man has been taken into federal custody after allegedly threatening to carry out a Molotov cocktail attack on a Jewish preschool and plotting what prosecutors describe as a potential mass-casualty incident.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the suspect, identified as Steven Duenas of the Los Feliz neighborhood, was arrested by the FBI following a series of online threats targeting Jews and a local preschool. The report stated that prosecutors characterized the alleged scheme as a plan to carry out a "mass incident," with Jewish residents of his community as the intended targets.
Duenas allegedly discussed using Molotov cocktails against the preschool and posted a stream of antisemitic messages on social media platform X. The New York Post cited posts in which he wrote that "not enough synagogues have been burned down and I just acquired some Tomahawks from Facebook Marketplace, might bomb Jems later.
He was brought before a judge for a bail hearing shortly after his arrest, where his demeanor reportedly raised concerns about his stability. According to the account, Duenas appeared so unable to maintain composure that the judge asked whether he wished to delay the proceeding.
Family members suggested a personal downward spiral may have preceded the alleged threats, though such explanations do not excuse violent antisemitism or domestic extremism. Duenas' mother, Maria Duenas, told The New York Post that her son's life had been "turned upside down by a divorce, his firing from his LA County job, and a heavy dose of prescription drugs and alcohol."
She described a very different young man than the one now facing federal scrutiny, recalling his earlier years in terms that contrast sharply with the hateful rhetoric attributed to him. "He was sweet, kind; he went to a good school; he was always smiling. I made sure he dressed well, he attended Mass and was an altar boy, the mother reportedly said, underscoring the tragic trajectory from a seemingly stable upbringing to an alleged campaign of antisemitic threats that highlights once again the need for firm law enforcement action and moral clarity against such hatred.
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