In a disturbing turn of events, Iman Abdul, a 27-year-old former campaign staffer for Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), was apprehended by police at her Brooklyn residence on Friday following allegations of making terroristic threats against a New York City public high school. The school in question, Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences, located in Manhattan Beach, became the center of attention after Abdul allegedly posted a message on Google Maps urging an attack on the institution known for its Jewish student body.
According to the New York Post, the threatening message posted by Abdul read, “If anyone needs a public school in NYC to attack for whatever reason … Lexus driving Israhell loving Zionisits all attend here.” She further mentioned the Birthright program, which offers free trips to Israel for Jewish young adults. The post was shared with Abdul's 25,000 Instagram followers before its removal and drew immediate and widespread condemnation.
The charges against Abdul include making a terroristic threat, acting in a manner injurious to a child, aggravated harassment, and making a threat of mass harm. Her connection to prominent political figures has come to light, as she worked on the Democratic primary campaigns of both Ocasio-Cortez and New York State Senator Julia Salazar in 2018. Salazar confirmed Abdul's role as a canvasser during that summer.
Abdul's background, as described in a 2019 interview, includes her studies at the City College of New York with a focus on childhood education, sociology, and Latino studies. She also held a director position at IntegrateNYC, an advocacy group for school desegregation.
The gravity of her actions has been underscored by the swift backlash from various groups and individuals. Tova Plaut, a Department of Education staffer and activist, expressed her horror at the explicit targeting of a school due to its Jewish population, emphasizing the potential for such threats to escalate into actual violence. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch revealed that the department's intelligence unit was alerted to the threat shortly after it was made.
StopAntisemitism, an organization monitoring antisemitic threats, shared a screenshot of Abdul's post and demanded full legal prosecution. In a direct message following the post, Abdul seemed to defend her actions, stating that her call was for a verbal attack on what she described as a "Zionist institution," rather than a physical one.
Following her arrest, Abdul deleted her social media and professional profiles. Moshe Spern, president of United Jewish Teachers, suggested that such hatred is a product of long-standing indoctrination within the city's educational institutions.
The incident raises serious concerns about the safety of Jewish students in New York City and the broader implications of online hate speech leading to potential real-world violence. It also highlights the challenges faced by law enforcement and educational bodies in addressing and preventing such threats.
