New York: A disgraced former journalist made eight bomb threats to Jewish organisations across the United States, including one in which he called for a “Jewish Newtown,” posing as an ex-girlfriend to retaliate after she had broken up with him, US prosecutors said on Friday.
Juan Thompson, 31, was taken into custody on Friday morning in St. Louis, the first arrest to result from a federal investigation into a surge of threats against Jewish Community Centers (JCCs) and schools that has rattled American Jews.
Authorities are examining more than 100 threats made against JCCs by phone in five waves this year, which appear to be unrelated to the Thompson allegations. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey met with Jewish leaders on Friday morning to discuss the ongoing investigation.
A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan accused Thompson of making threats, mostly by email, against organisations including a Jewish museum in New York and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). All occurred after the first flood of phone threats in early January.
The hoax threats against JCCs have stoked fears of a resurgence in anti-Semitism and forced many centre to be evacuated, including some with day care for young children.
Read the full article by Joseph Ax at The Sydney Morning Herald.