Teen accused of threats against Jewish sites
WASHINGTON - A 19-year-old Israeli-American has been arrested in connection with a wave of threats aimed at Jewish community centers, the FBI confirmed Thursday.
Israeli police arrested the suspect, who was not immediately identified, as part of joint investigation with the FBI, federal authorities said. Investigators believe the suspect is responsible for the bulk of the threats against Jewish institutions in the past several months.
“Today’s arrest in Israel is the culmination of a largescale investigation spanning multiple continents for hate crimes against Jewish communities across our country,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday. “The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the civil rights of all Americans, and we will not tolerate the targeting of any community in this country on the basis of their religious beliefs.”
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld described the suspect as a hacker, but said his motives were still unclear.
The threats spread fear in communities across the country, prompting some of the targeted institutions to upgrade security at community centers and offer training to help staffers better protect themselves.
Since January, according to the Anti-Defamation League, 165 bomb threats have targeted Jewish institutions across the country, including schools, synagogues and ADL offices in New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Boston.
Jewish community leaders in Florida expressed relief that a suspect has been arrested in the wave of bomb threats against Jewish targets across the United States in recent weeks but said it was unclear whether he was the sole perpetrator.
Michael Balaban, president of the Jewish Federation of Broward County, and Scott Ehrlich, chief executive officer of the David Posnack Jewish Community Center, said in a joint statement they “are glad a suspect has been arrested.”
The Israeli teenager’s arrest is separate from the case announced earlier this month against a 31-year-old Missouri man who was charged with similar threats as part of a bizarre cyberstalking scheme to retaliate against a former girlfriend, federal prosecutors allege.
Juan Thompson, a former writer for the online investigative publication The Intercept, was arrested in St. Louis. He is accused of making at least eight bomb threats against Jewish institutions in New York, including the Anti-Defamation League, and across the country, in the name of a woman described in court documents as a “former romantic interest.”
“Thompson’s alleged pattern of harassment not only involved the defamation of his female victim, but his threats intimidated an entire community,” FBI Assistant Director William Sweeney Jr., said after Thompson’s arrest.
Contributing: Associated Press