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Michigan Jewish man who said he planned to ‘hunt Palestinians’ charged with making terrorist threat
(JTA) – A Jewish man in metropolitan Detroit was arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat Saturday after allegedly asking on social media if anyone wanted to help him “go to Dearborn & hunt Palestinians.”
The reported remark and the arrest come amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
Carl Mintz, 41, was arraigned in Dearborn, a heavily Arab-American suburb of Detroit where large pro-Palestinian rallies were recently held following the deadly Hamas terror attack that killed more than 1,400 Israelis and wounded thousands. Israel’s military response has killed an estimated thousands more Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Mintz was charged with a felony of making a threat of terrorism and a misdemeanor charge of malicious use of a telecommunications device for the posts he allegedly published on Oct. 11. A conference to determine probable cause is scheduled for Tuesday.
Mintz’s threat to hunt Palestinians was published alongside pro-Israel social media posts, and the arrest comes following a string of reported anti-Muslim and antisemitic incidents in the United States and elsewhere following the Oct. 7 attack and the ensuing war. Last week, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American child in the Chicago area was stabbed to death, allegedly by a man who was angry about the Hamas attack.
Mintz appears to come from a Jewish family, according to an obituary of his father published in the Detroit Jewish News. The paper also covered Mintz’s 2010 arrest for shooting an Arab motorist in the arm in a road-rage incident. He ultimately pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon after an initial mistrial and received 11 months’ probation.
At the time, local reports said, Mintz maintained a YouTube channel filled with videos targeting Islam, which he described as “a cult” and “a threat to all Judeo-Christian nations.” His brother told local news that Mintz had been distraught since the recent deaths of both their parents.
Mintz is a realtor and former school board candidate in the suburb Farmington Hills who ran for office in 2022 on a platform of “ending critical race theory,” an issue that has recently animated portions of the right. He is also an aspiring actor. His real-estate firm told the Detroit Free Press it “released” him after he was charged this week.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud praised Mintz’s arrest in a statement. “Threats of violence against our community will not be tolerated,” he said. “We are pleased to see that the charges filed this weekend reflect the severity of the message of hate that this individual chose to post online last week.” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy also said, “We take these threats very seriously.”
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on prosecutors to charge Mintz with ethnic intimidation.
The period since Oct. 7 has also seen a string of high-profile antisemitic incidents. A synagogue in California was vandalized and a man in North Carolina was arrested for allegedly threatening a synagogue with “public execution.” An Israeli student was assaulted at Columbia University on Oct. 11.
Jewish organizations joined together this week, following the Chicago-area killing, to speak out against that incident and anti-Muslim hate as well as antisemitism. Local rabbis attended the boy’s funeral.
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The post Michigan Jewish man who said he planned to ‘hunt Palestinians’ charged with making terrorist threat appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.