A dual U.S.-German citizen was charged with attempting to firebomb a U.S. Embassy office in Tel Aviv last week, the Justice Department said Sunday.

Justice Department officials allege Joseph Neumeyer, 28, spat on a security guard outside the embassy on May 19 and then fled, dropping a backpack that included three glass bottles the authorities said were intended for use as molotov cocktails.

The Justice Department said the man had posted earlier that day on social media, “Join me as I burn down the embassy in Tel Aviv. Death to America.” Other social media posts, the Justice Department said, included threats by Neumeyer to assassinate President Donald Trump.

Israeli authorities arrested the man at his hotel and flew him to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, where FBI agents on Sunday transferred him into U.S. custody.

In a criminal complaint, prosecutors said Neumeyer was born in Colorado, lived in the United States until earlier this year and arrived in Israel last month.

In posts on Facebook attributed to Neumeyer and included in the complaint, he threatened to kill Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. In one post in March publicly addressed to the Justice Department, Neumeyer declared, “The former President has several hours to resign or certain death.”

The complaint said Neumeyer was walking by the embassy when he spat at a guard, who then attempted to stop him as he walked across the street. The guard grabbed Neumeyer’s backpack, which fell to the ground as Neumeyer broke free and ran away.

Smelling alcohol, the guards opened the bag to find three glass bottles, at least one of which had a rag stuck in the neck.

An Israeli police spokesperson, who said a bomb squad unit was dispatched to the scene, provided a photo of the bag’s contents, which included two beer bottles, a liquor bottle and cloth rags.

Israeli police officials used surveillance-camera video to track Neumeyer to a hotel five blocks from the embassy, where an employee said he had been staying, the complaint said. Neumeyer told police that he had put “molotov cocktail bottles” into his backpack filled with vodka.

The Justice Department said U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo this weekend ordered that Neumeyer remain detained. An attorney for him could not be identified. If convicted, Neumeyer faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that Neumeyer was “charged with planning a devastating attack targeting our embassy in Israel, threatening death to Americans, and President Trump’s life.”

Colorado election records show that Neumeyer was registered to vote, without a party affiliation, as recently as 2023.

Neumeyer’s father, Zack, said in a brief phone call Sunday that his son had dealt with “deep mental health issues” but that he was traveling and could not elaborate further.

The alleged confrontation at the embassy happened two days before a gunman in Washington shot and killed Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, two employees of the Israeli Embassy who had been attending a reception Wednesday night at the Capital Jewish Museum. Justice Department officials have given no indication that the events are connected.

The Tel Aviv office operated as America’s central outpost in Israel for consular services and diplomatic work for decades, until the embassy was moved to Jerusalem in 2018, during Trump’s first term. At the time, the Tel Aviv embassy had 850 people on staff.

Aaron Schaffer contributed to this report.