US/World News

St. Louis man arrested for 8 bomb threats against Jewish agencies

(JTA) – A St. Louis man has been charged for making at least eight bomb threats against Jewish community centers and the Anti-Defamation League. Juan Thompson, 31, made some of the threats in the name of a former romantic partner he had been cyberstalking, according to a statement March 3 by the U.S. Attorney of Southern New York. Thompson has been charged with cyberstalking, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. NBC News cited “additional sources” saying Thompson is being considered a “copycat” and investigators continue to look for others believed to be behind the wave of threats targeting JCCs.

Thompson made some of the threats in his victim’s name and some in his own in an attempt to portray himself as being framed. In a series of Twitter posts this week, he claimed his victim was in fact making the threats and framing him. But the FBI complaint against Thompson says he was behind at least eight of the threats made in January and February, mostly via email. The complaint says Thompson threatened institutions including the ADL, JCCs in San Diego and New York City, schools in New York and Michigan, and a Jewish history museum in New York City. In the threats to the schools, made on Feb. 1, Thompson referred to a “Jewish newtown,” a reference to the 2012 mass shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut.

The complaint is currently focused on Thompson’s alleged harassment of a woman identified as “Victim-1,” saying he engaged “in a course of conduct that placed [his victim] in reasonable fear of the death of and serious bodily injury to that person.” In addition to the bomb threats, the complaint says the coworkers of Thompson’s former partner received anonymous emails claiming she had a sexually transmitted disease.

Thompson attended Vassar College and is a former journalist who was fired from the online news site The Intercept in 2016 for fabricating sources and quotes in his articles.

In total, more than 100 Jewish institutions, mostly JCCs, have received bomb threats since the beginning of the year.

CAP: Juan Thompson

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