A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida indicted Forrest Kendall Pemberton, 27, of Gainesville, on June 18, 2026, on federal hate crime and firearms charges stemming from an alleged attempted mass shooting targeting Jewish employees at a pro-Israel advocacy organization in Plantation, Florida [1][2]. The target was the American Israel Public Affairs Committee [3]. The alleged attack was planned for December 23, 2024 [1].
According to the indictment, Pemberton armed himself with an AR-15-style rifle equipped with a silencer before approaching the Plantation office [2]. Prosecutors charge that he selected the target because of the victims' actual or perceived religion and national origin, the predicate that triggers federal hate crime liability under 18 U.S.C. § 249 [1]. A separate firearms charge covers the alleged use of the silencer-equipped rifle in furtherance of the offense [2]. On the hate crime count alone, Pemberton faces a maximum penalty of life in prison [1][2].
The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida in coordination with the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division [1][2]. Federal hate crime charges for attempted mass casualty attacks against religious institutions remain rare; the statute requires prosecutors to prove both the violent act and a nexus to the victim's protected characteristic, a dual burden that has historically produced a limited number of indictments at this charge level [2]. AIPAC is among the most prominent pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the United States, and the alleged targeting of its staff draws the case into the broader pattern of antisemitic violence federal authorities have sought to prosecute aggressively in recent years [3].
Pemberton is presumed innocent. No trial date has been publicly set as of the indictment date, and defense counsel has not been identified in available public filings [1]. The Southern District of Florida will carry the prosecution, with the Civil Rights Division maintaining oversight consistent with standard DOJ practice for hate crime cases with potential national significance [2]. Sentencing, if conviction follows, would be governed by federal guidelines, though the life-maximum exposure on the lead count indicates prosecutors view the alleged conduct as among the most serious the statute reaches [1][2].