‘Have to be exterminated’: Series of violent plots take aim at AIPAC-linked targets in US

In late September, a man in Texas contacted law enforcement to report his friend, Benny Caldera, Jr., who told him they might not see each other again.

When asked what that meant, Caldera said to his friend that he was going to the Texas state capitol to “shoot it up.”

Caldera showed his friend information about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on his laptop, saying, “These people have to be exterminated,” according to a criminal complaint.

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Promoted: Identity/Crisis, Oct 7 

The following day, the friend recorded a conversation with Caldera in which he outlined his plan for invading the Texas capitol.

“The first demand we are going to make is eliminating anyone that supports AIPAC,” he said.

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“The Israeli fucking AIPAC — they need to go,” he said “They can either, effective immediately, resign, or they can stay and they will be arrested and they will be tried by a jury of their peers for treason.”

Investigators searched Caldera’s home, finding a loaded revolver with its serial number filed off, a 12 gauge shotgun and ammunition for other weapons. He was charged with a firearms offense and faces five years in prison.

The case was the latest in a series of alleged plots targeting AIPAC in the US, as politicians and commentators on both the left and right assail the pro-Israel lobby group.

Caldera was charged with making a terroristic threat and faces up to 10 years in prison.

Uptick in protests after Oct. 7

In 1977, a bomb ripped a gash into the home of AIPAC’s then-director, Morris Amitay, while he and his family slept inside. The blast shattered windows in homes five blocks away and killed the Amitay family’s dog, but did not injure the rest of the family. There were no arrests or claims of responsibility.

After that attack, there were sporadic protests and politically-motivated hacks against AIPAC, but there did not appear to be any violence or violent plots for decades.

After the Hamas-led, October 2023 onslaught in southern Israel, rhetoric and protests against AIPAC escalated.

In November 2023, on Thanksgiving, protesters set off smoke bombs outside AIPAC president Michael Tuchin’s home and spilled red paint signifying blood on his driveway.

The protesters called Tuchin a “baby killer” and placed bunches of cloth splattered with red paint symbolizing dead babies outside his home, echoing the centuries-old anti-Jewish blood libel.

In August 2024, AIPAC’s headquarters in Washington, DC, was vandalized with red spray paint and the slogan “Fuck Israel.”

Months later, the office was vandalized again, resulting in five arrests.

‘An attempt to kill’

The first attempted deadly violence came in December 2024, when police in Florida arrested an armed man, Forrest Pemberton, for plotting an attack on an AIPAC office.

Pemberton researched AIPAC employees online and traveled to what he believed was an AIPAC office site with firearms to scout the location, according to a criminal complaint.

Investigators searching Pemberton’s computer found that he had looked up an address that matched the site of a former AIPAC office in Florida that he believed was still active.

Law enforcement arrested Pemberton near the former office site while he was carrying three firearms, including an assault rifle with a silencer, and eight magazines of ammunition.

He said he chose his target due to its “political influence,” that he was frustrated with the status quo, and wanted to “see if I could make a change.”

Before setting out, Pemberton had left a note to his family, saying “goodbye” and that he wanted to “stoke the flames.”

Pemberton was indicted for an attempted hate crime and other charges and faces up to life in prison.

“The offense included an attempt to kill,” the grand jury’s indictment said.

AIPAC-linked lawmakers targeted

The third violent plot against AIPAC targets was exposed in June after authorities in Ohio arrested suspect Tycen Proper.

Investigators found that Proper and alleged co-conspirators had plotted a violent attack on a mixed martial arts event held on the White House lawn.

The network allegedly planned to stage a protest near the White House, and while the protest was underway, dispatch small, explosive-laden drones that would detonate over the UFC event, forcing an evacuation.

Attackers armed with rifles, stationed near an evacuation point, would shoot their targets as they fled the UFC event, according to the plan. The suspects had taken actions to prepare for the attack including purchasing weapons, quitting their jobs and traveling to the capital from around the US.

Proper told his co-conspirators on May 13 that the assailants should target US Senator Marsha Blackburn, according to the criminal complaint.

Asked why the group should target Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, Proper said, “She’s taken money from the Israel pro Israel [sic] lobby and supports them,” according to the complaint.

Proper said in a text message, “These are people we’re going to focus on,” alongside images of US Senator Jim Justice, US Senator Shelley Moore Capito, US Representative Carol Miller, and US Represntative Riley Moore, all Republicans from West Virginia.

The images appeared to have been taken from the website “TrackAIPAC.com” and included information about how much money each lawmaker had received from “pro-Israel PACS,” the complaint said.

A criminal complaint against another one of the suspects, Bryan Roa, said he blamed Jews for US government corruption and accused Jews and Israel of being behind the war with Iran.

Family or friends of the suspects tipped off law enforcement to each of the three plots, which came as the US public has become increasingly hostile to Israel, and as politicians and commentators have repeatedly railed against AIPAC on both the left and right, casting the lobby as a nefarious force controlling US politics.

Tucker Carlson said in July, “both parties have the same paymasters and the same donors who are demanding loyalty to a foreign country, the same AIPAC donations.” Republican Thomas Massie said AIPAC and other pro-Israel donors were “bullying members of Congress” to “dictate” US foreign policy.

On the left, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called AIPAC “monsters” in June, US Representative Ilhan Omar said AIPAC was a “dangerous force,” and US Representative Rashida Tlaib called the group “the pro-genocide lobby.”

There is no evidence of a direct connection between the statements from commentators and politicians and the violent plots.