In a chilling display of hostility, a Brooklyn woman with ties to progressive political campaigns has been arrested for posting a terrorist threat against a New York City high school, specifically targeting its Jewish students.
Breitbart reported that 27-year-old Iman Abdul was taken into custody by the New York Police Department on Friday after making a dangerous threat on social media against Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences in Manhattan Beach, NYC, an institution noted for its Jewish student population.
Abdul, who once worked as a youth organizer for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and canvassed for state Sen. Julia Salazar (D) during their 2018 primary campaigns, has now found herself on the wrong side of the law.
Her past involvement with these progressive figures raises eyebrows about the ideological circles she moved in. Yet, it’s her actions, not her associations, that demand scrutiny here.
On Thursday, Abdul posted on Instagram to her 25,000 followers, sharing a Google Maps location of the high school with a caption dripping with malice.
She wrote, “Lexus driving Israhell loving Zionisits Ziall attend here,” misspelling words but leaving no doubt about her intent to single out Jewish students. It’s a stark reminder that hatred often hides behind a keyboard, but the harm it threatens is all too real.
She doubled down in the same post, sneering that these students had “all gone on ‘Birthright,’” referencing the program offering free trips to Israel for Jewish young adults. This isn’t just distasteful commentary; it’s a deliberate attempt to incite harm based on identity, something no civilized society can tolerate.
The post, since deleted, didn’t escape notice, as advocacy group StopAntisemitism flagged it, and Israel advocate Uri Cohen amplified it on X, where it racked up over 500,000 views.
Cohen also pointed out Abdul’s account was rife with similar content, including a video of her mocking police complaints and laughing off accusations by claiming her critics were stifling her “freedom of speech.” If free speech includes mapping out a school for attack, then we’ve lost the plot on what liberty means.
Thankfully, the NYPD’s intelligence unit was alerted swiftly, as confirmed by Commissioner Jessica Tisch, and officers arrested Abdul at her Brooklyn home on Friday. This kind of rapid response is what communities rely on when digital threats turn dangerous.
Abdul now faces serious charges, including making a terroristic threat, aggravated harassment, acting in a manner injurious to a child, and threatening mass harm, as reported by the New York Post. These aren’t minor infractions; they reflect the gravity of targeting children and a specific group with violent intent.
Tova Plaut, a Jewish activist and Department of Education staffer, didn’t mince words in her reaction to the New York Post, calling the threat “evil” and a “call to harm Jews.”
Her outrage over a school being marked for attack simply due to its Jewish students echoes a broader concern: when does rhetoric cross into real danger? It’s a question worth asking before, not after, tragedy strikes.
The specifics of Abdul’s post—pinpointing a location and egging on violence—aren’t just reckless; they’re a calculated jab at a vulnerable community. Schools should be sanctuaries, not targets for ideological grudges.
Back in 2019, Abdul described herself in a City College of NY interview as a director of a youth-led group pushing for “desegregation” of city schools, while studying childhood education, sociology, and Latino studies. That background makes her actions all the more jarring—someone trained to shape young minds allegedly turning to threats against them.
Progressive policies often champion inclusion, yet here’s a former organizer for such causes seemingly embracing exclusion of the ugliest kind. It’s a contradiction that exposes the hypocrisy sometimes lurking beneath the surface of activist rhetoric.
The incident also shines a light on the Wild West of social media, where a single post can reach thousands and incite real-world harm before anyone hits “delete.”
Platforms must grapple with balancing free expression and curbing dangerous content, but that’s cold comfort to parents worried about their kids’ safety.
For now, the focus remains on Abdul’s arrest and the charges she faces, a sobering outcome for what started as a hateful online rant. It’s a cautionary tale about the consequences of words, especially when they target the innocent based on who they are.