Authorities in New York City say a former top aide to far-left Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was planning a mass attack targeting Jewish students.
Iman Abdul, 27, was arrested last Friday on charges she urged her 25,000 social media followers to “attack” a public high school because Jewish students attend it.
According to reports, Abdul worked as a youth organizer for AOC’s office and is accused of posting a screenshot on Thursday of the location of Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences in Manhattan Beach on Google Maps and a disturbing caption.
“If anyone needs a public school in NYC to attack for whatever reason … Lexus driving Israhell (sic) loving Zionisits (sic) all attend here,” the since-deleted post read.
“They’ve all gone on ‘Birthright,’ it added, referring to a popular program that offers free 10-day trips to Israel for Jewish young adults.
The NYPD arrested Abdul at her Brooklyn home on Friday, charging her with making a terroristic threat, acting in a manner injurious to a child, aggravated harassment, and making a threat of mass harm.
The Instagram post alarmed Jewish advocates fighting against antisemitism in city schools.
“A map. A pin. A call to harm Jews, fellow New Yorkers, children, teachers. This isn’t just dangerous. It’s evil. Jew-hatred doesn’t stop with a threat. It escalates. We need immediate and unequivocal action,” Tova Plaut, a DOE pre-K staffer and Jewish activist, told The New York Post.
“I am outraged and horrified that a NYC school was publicly marked for attack simply because of its Jewish population,” she added.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who is Jewish, and the department’s intelligence unit were quickly alerted to the threat, sources said.
The watchdog group StopAntisemitism shared Abdul’s post on X and accused Abdul of “inviting people to attack a Jewish school,” although Goldstein HS is a secular NYC public school.
“This incitement against Jews, specifically minor children, must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” the group declared.
NYC resident Iman Abdul takes to Instagram inviting people to attack a Jewish school.
This incitement against Jews, specifically minor children, must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. https://t.co/iaX8CPa1ZO pic.twitter.com/WDN7O3jI75
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) August 7, 2025
Prior to her arrest, Abdul doubled down on her threat in a direct message to StopAntisemitism on her Instagram account @theinmxnabdul.
“I never called for an attack on the school in the sense of mass organization or not even individual people attacking individuals, that’s literally stupid,” she wrote.
“I called for an attack on the school, the Zionist institution funded by our public dollars … we have every right to verbally attack the school.”
Abdul could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.
Her Instagram account was deleted, along with her LinkedIn page, according to the New York Post.
Abdul worked on the Democratic primary campaigns of AOC and state Sen. Julia Salazar in the summer of 2018.
She was a paid canvasser for Salazar, the lawmaker told The New York Post.