Man in Denmark faces preliminary terrorism charges over arson attack on Jewish woman’s home

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A 21-year-old man was arrested Tuesday in Denmark on arson charges after allegedly setting fire to the home of a Jewish woman in Copenhagen. He faced preliminary charges under the country’s terrorism laws that could carry a sentence of life in prison.

Preliminary charges are a step down from formal charges and allow authorities to hold suspects during an investigation. A life sentence in Denmark usually means 16 years in prison.

The man and several other suspects who have not been identified are believed to have set fire to balcony furniture at the woman’s home on May 29. The fire spread but was extinguished by firefighters, Danish media reported, and no one was injured.

Due to a court order, neither the suspect nor the victim may be named.

Danish media present at the hearing reported that the man pleaded not guilty through his defense lawyer. No further details were available because the rest of the hearing was held behind closed doors.

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service said in a statement that the suspect is related to Loyal to Familia, a predominantly immigrant gang in Denmark that was banned in 2021.

“It is serious when someone in Denmark becomes a target of terror because of his or her Jewish background. It is also worrying that we are again seeing links to LTF in terrorist cases,” said Finn Borch Andersen, the head of the security service.

In December, Denmark and Germany announced the arrests of several terror suspectsincluding alleged Hamas members, who are suspected of plotting attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions in Europe because of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. The announcements were issued separately.

Danish police subsequently reported that three people had been arrested in Denmark who were “related to criminal gangs”. They cited the banned, mainly immigrant gang Loyal to Familia as an example. This gang had long been behind feuds, violence, robberies, extortion and drug trafficking in the Danish capital.

“It is too early to judge whether this is an isolated case or a broader development in the terrorist threat,” Borch Andersen said of Monday’s arrest.

Denmark’s Jewish community described the attack in a separate statement as “terrifying… even though no one was injured.”

The security agency has warned of an “increased terrorist threat against Jewish and Israeli targets in Denmark, especially in light of the conflict in Israel and Gaza,” Borch Andersen said.