Ruba Almaghtheh confessed to deliberately targeting the building, which is the site of the Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge, due to her objection to a symbol representing "Hebrew Israelite" displayed outside. Following her arrest, she admitted to the act and mentioned her connections to Palestine while referring to the building as the "Israel school". The building in question is linked to a sect of the Black Hebrew Israelites, not a Jewish institution, as clarified by the Anti-Defamation League.