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Jewish Breaking News

FBI FOILS Alleged Attack Plot Targeting Los Angeles Jewish Kindergarten

Oct 18, 2026·3 min read

The FBI arrested a Los Angeles resident earlier this month who had been planning a “mass incident” at a Jewish kindergarten, according to prosecutors, The New York Post reported Saturday.

On Oct. 2, the FBI raided the home of 51-year-old Steven Duenas, which he shared with his mother, Maria Duenas, for making threats against Jews online and for the possession of parts intended to create a Molotov cocktail.

In an X post from Sept. 19, using the screen name StockSwinger, he displayed what appeared to be a Molotov cocktail against a background with a TV screen showing the World Trade Center on fire. The label bears the words “Goy de Ley Cocktail.”

“1st batch- ‘Goy De Ley’ cocktail. Don’t simply watch the war, participate by enjoying a Goy De Let cocktail,” he wrote. Another post from that day displayed a photo of a glass bottle along with the message, “Second cocktail of the night 271K max cocktail.” He also posted a video showing Molotov cocktail parts and wrote, “It’s the end of Los Feliz as you know it, and I feel fine. I love my homies… The Houthis.”

In other posts, he wrote, “Not enough synagogues have been burned down” and “I just acquired some Tomahawks from Facebook Marketplace, might bomb Jems later.”

Jems is the name of the preschool the Los Feliz resident had in his crosshairs.

“Duenas appeared in court shortly after his arrest, shackled and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, tears streaming down his face,” the Post reported. “At one point the judge asked whether he wanted to postpone the proceedings until he could regain his composure. Duenas said he was ready to continue.”

“As he left the bail hearing, he mouthed the words ‘I love you’ to his Mom, Maria Duenas, who was sitting in the gallery and was handcuffed alongside her son when the FBI raided the residence they share at 4:30 a.m.,” the Post reported.

In an exclusive interview with the Post, the suspect’s mother shared details of her son’s life.

“He was sweet, kind, he went to a good school, he was always smiling. I made sure he dressed well, he attended mass and was an altar boy,” she said.

Following the loss of his job and a divorce, his life spiraled downward as he began abusing drugs and alcohol, the mother said, adding that after his arrest, she found “barrels of alcohol, he had been drinking and taking hundreds of bottles of meds, he was out of his mind.” She also said that he was bipolar, schizophrenic, and suffered from “deep depression.”

Asked about her son’s anti-Jewish animus, Maria said, “Steven has always been respectful of others, he was not brought up that way. We pray and we help, that’s my motto.”

“I know that he is sorry, he wasn’t himself. I’d like him to go to a clinic and clean up, to truly repent and find peace,” she added.

Duenas’ next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 10.

View original on Jewish Breaking News
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