St. Louis Man Accused Of 8 Bomb Threats Will Remain In Jail
Image by YouTube
(JTA) — A former journalist from St. Louis accused of making at least eight bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers and the Anti-Defamation League appeared in federal court in New York and did not request bail.
Juan Thompson, 31, who made some of the threats in the name of a former romantic partner he had been cyber stalking and some in his own in an attempt to portray himself as being framed, appeared in Manhattan Federal Court on Wednesday.
He was indicted on one count of cyber stalking for the threats, which federal prosecutors say were copycat crimes during a wave of nearly 150 bomb threats to JCCs and other Jewish institutions since the beginning of the year.
He was arrested on March 3 for the threats, which carry a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. Nearly three weeks later, an Israeli-American teen was arrested in Israel for allegedly making the bulk of the threats.
After not making a case to receive bail, which was denied at the time of his arrest, Thompson will likely remain in jail until his next hearing on April 10.
The FBI 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.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
