A Gainesville man was arrested Monday following surveillance in Tallahassee after FBI agents said they disrupted his efforts to threaten or kill employees of a pro-Israel organization in South Florida on the first night of Hanukkah, according to federal records court.
His plans were thwarted in part because he went to the wrong address.
Records show that on December 22 and 23, Forrest Pemberton went to the former headquarters of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Plantation with three guns, including an AR-15 rifle.
This is what a spokesperson for AIPAC said CBS News, “We take these threats very seriously and are working closely with law enforcement on this matter. We will not be deterred by extremists as we pursue our mission to strengthen the relationship with America’s valued ally, Israel. We greatly appreciate the FBI’s work to stop this individual.”
Authorities were first alerted to his plans after his father reported him missing, and relatives found a letter in his room stating that Pemberton wanted to “close the loop,” “fan the flames” and ” goodbye’ wanted to say.
In an interview with authorities, Pemberton said he walked from Gainesville to Ocala, where he bought a Ford F-150 for $400. He then drove to what he thought was the location of AIPAC’s headquarters but did not realize they had moved, court documents show.
He then traveled north. On December 25, police saw him getting into a rideshare car in Tallahassee with a soft gun case. During a traffic stop, they intercepted Pemberton and took his three guns and ammunition, according to records.
It was unclear what role Tallahassee police played in his arrest. At one point, the department received a report that Pemberton may be in town.
In an interview on December 26, Pemberton told authorities that he had visited AIPAC’s former plantation headquarters to “scout” the site.
When authorities asked if he planned a mass murder and then committed suicide, Pemberton said, “Um, I really don’t know if I would end it with my life or not.” I hadn’t gotten that far yet. It depended on whether I got caught or not. If I got caught, that was a way out.”
AIPAC is not named, but the complaint says, in part, that the victim’s website “promotes policies that strengthen and expand the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
Pemberton added that he was frustrated with the “status quo” and was “seeing if he could make a change,” according to court documents.
During the interview with authorities, Pemberton said he considered committing violence against AIPAC, but decided against it because “it would have been a one-way ticket… in Plantation I decided I wasn’t ready. I gave it up on.”
According to the indictment, Pemberton is charged with stalking, which means “with the intent to kill, injure, harass, intimidate, or place under surveillance with the intent to kill, injure, harass another person harass or intimidate, uses the postal service, any interactive computer service or electronic communications service or electronic communications system for interstate commerce, or any other interstate or foreign commerce facility to engage in any course of action that causes, attempts to cause, or could reasonably be expected to cause substantial emotional distress to any person.”
A hearing in the case is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday before a federal magistrate judge at the U.S. Courthouse in Gainesville, court records show.
(This story and headline have been updated to reflect a lack of clarity about where exactly Pemberton was taken into custody.)
Ana Goñi-Lessan is the State Watchdog Reporter for USA TODAY – Florida and can be reached at [email protected].
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