The FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. Photo by Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images
By Louis Keene
February 13, 2024
An Indiana man was arrested Tuesday after vowing to kill Jewish people and elected officials who supported Israel, according to court documents unsealed Monday.
An arrest warrant alleges that Jeffrey Stevens wrote, “I am going to kill every Jew in Wayne,” referring to Fort Wayne, Indiana, on Nov. 20, three days after claiming, “I am going to shoot every pro-Israel US government official in the head.”
Stevens, 41, admitted to sending the threats via the CIA’s website and on Facebook, according to the warrant, and blamed them on a drinking problem.
Stevens has not yet entered a plea in his case and did not have an attorney listed as of Tuesday afternoon, according to ABC News, which reported the government has moved for him to be held while he awaits trial.
Today, The @FBIIndianapolis has arrested Jeffrey Stevens, aka Zayed Stevens, for threatening to “shoot every pro Israel US officials” (threats made via the CIA website and @FortWaynePolice ) pic.twitter.com/6iPKLDwlHz
— Seamus Hughes (@SeamusHughes) February 13, 2024
Court documents allege Steven’s troubling online activity began before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, but escalated following the outbreak of war.
On Sept. 28, Stevens allegedly posted to the CIA’s website that he was a journalist covering the Middle East with “very strong connections throughout the West Bank.”
He added, “I would like to be involved with anything against not exactly Israel but Netanyahu’s far-right government that will only cause problems for the US. I will make a lot of noise with or without you.”
On Oct. 8, the day following the attacks, Stevens allegedly posted on the CIA site that he had Palestinian contacts, as well as connections within Hezbollah and Iran, warning, “You people had better wake up. If the US strikes Palestinian resistance, you will be destroyed. I cannot wait until CIA operatives start getting eliminated.”
The IP address associated with both messages was affiliated with Stevens’ residence in Fort Wayne, according to the court filing.
On Nov. 17, he allegedly posted again, this time using his personal email address. “I am going to shoot every pro-Israel US government official in the head, and there is nothing you can do about it because you are the pathetic CIA,” he wrote. “I am going to kill all of you.”
He then turned his attention to the Facebook page of the Fort Wayne Police Department, the indictment says, posting on Nov. 20 from an account belonging to “Zayed Stevens.”
“I am going to kill every Jew in ft. Wayne, and there is nothing you can do about it, because you are stupid n—––,” Stevens allegedly wrote Nov. 20.
About three weeks later, he returned to the CIA public website, writing, “I am going to make sure that every CIA member who is pro-Israel is eliminated.”
According to a FBI officer who testified for the warrant, the FBI became aware of Stevens’ “Zayed Stevens” Facebook page in April 2023 . Among his posts was one that read “Death to the Zionist.”
Stevens was not investigated for his threats until Oct. 15, when someone sent in a tip about his Facebook posts to the FBI.
