2017 Jewish Community Center bomb threats

In early 2017, a wave of more than 2,000 bomb threats were made against Jewish Community Centers in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and Denmark.[1] Two arrests and two convictions were made in connection with the threats: Michael Ron David Kadar, a dual American-Israeli citizen, who received a ten year sentence,[2][3] along with Juan M. Thompson, a former journalist, who received a five year sentence.[4]

Theories

Jerry Silverman of the Jewish Federations of North America said the threats were part of a "coordinated effort" to intimidate American Jews.[5] In February, during an interview on CNN, U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler said that some supporters of Donald Trump were responsible for the threats.[6] Trump denounced the JCC bomb threats and anti-Semitism,[7] and said that this may be a case of someone trying to make others look bad.[8]

In an op-ed for The Baltimore Sun, deputy editor Tricia Bishop said the threats represent a growing attitude of racial intolerance in the United States, but probably no specific group or person was responsible for the threats. She implored readers to "stand up ... before it's your children they come for".[9]

Perpetrators

In March 2017, two persons were arrested on separate charges of making a number of the bomb threats:

Israeli-American man

A 19-year-old Jewish Israeli-American named as Michael Ron David Kadar, was arrested in March 2017 in Ashkelon, Israel and charged with responsibility for "dozens" of the threats.[10] Kadar had earlier been rejected from enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces due to mental health issues.[11]

According to Israeli police, Kadar had used "advanced technologies" to disguise his voice and mask the fact the calls were originating from Israel.[10] According to court documents, Kadar allegedly advertised on the dark web the service of threatening any school for $30.[12] Kadar's defense attorney said he has a brain tumor, which may have influenced his behavior.[13] He was suspected of threatening over 2,000 different institutions in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia including the Israeli Embassy in Washington, the Israeli consulate in Miami, schools, malls, police stations, hospitals and airlines. His threats reportedly caused fighter jets to be scrambled, planes to dump fuel and make emergency landings, and schools to evacuate.

In April 2017, an indictment against Kadar was filed in an Israeli court charging him with several crimes including an attempt to extort a United States senator, "publishing false reports causing public panic, conspiring to commit a crime, hacking computers to commit a crime, and violations of money-laundering laws". In the same month, a similar indictment was filed against him in a federal court in Florida charging him with 28 crimes, and he was separately charged with 3 additional crimes in a federal court in Georgia. Israeli authorities reportedly refused to extradite him to the US, preferring to try him in Israel.[14][15] In June 2018, he was convicted on hundreds of counts including charges of extortion, publishing false information that caused panic, computer offenses, and money laundering.[16]

In November 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, plus a fine and 1 year probation.[17] Kadar was not named in Israeli courts because he was tried as a minor, but he was identified in indictment papers issued by the US.[18][17] He would have been sentenced to 17 years if not for his mental issues: autism spectrum and paranoid delusions. Described as highly intelligent, his crimes earned him $240,000 in Bitcoin, worth over $1 million at the time of the sentence. Kadar refused to hand over the password to his Bitcoin digital wallet.[19]

African-American journalist

Juan M. Thompson, a former journalist for The Intercept, was charged with responsibility for at least eight of the incidents.[20] According to media reports, Thompson had called in the threats in an attempt to frame a woman whom he had previously dated.[21] According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the woman had been the subject of previous harassment by Thompson, which included an alleged attempt by him to falsely report her for possession of child pornography.[22] On 13 June 2017, Thompson pleaded guilty to sending bomb threats to Jewish community centers.[23]

See also

References
  1. "Israeli-American convicted for making bomb threats against Jewish institutions 'out of boredom'". Newsweek. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  2. "Israel Convicts Hacker Who Threatened US Jewish Centers - The New York Times". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  3. "US-Israeli bomb hoaxer given 10 year jail sentence". BBC News. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  4. "The Latest: Victim in Jewish threats case talks about terror". Associated Press. 20 December 2017.
  5. Smith, Mitch (9 January 2017). "Anonymous Bomb Threats Rattle Jewish Centers Across Eastern U.S." The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  6. "4th Wave of Bomb Threats Hit 11 Jewish Community Centers Nationwide". Democracy Now. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  7. "More bomb threats target Jewish community. Trump finally responds". CNN. 16 February 2017.
  8. "Trump reportedly said JCC threats may be trying to 'make others look bad'".
  9. Bishop, Tricia (2 March 2017). "We're to blame for the bomb threats on babies". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  10. Beaumont, Peter (23 March 2017). "Israeli teenager arrested over bomb threats to US Jewish targets". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  11. Shapiro, Emily (23 March 2017). "Jewish Israeli-American man arrested in connection to bomb threats against Jewish centers". ABC News. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  12. Ax, Joseph (9 August 2017). "Bomb threat suspect in Israel offered services on dark web: U.S. authorities". Reuters. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  13. "Teen arrested over bomb threats". Yahoo! News. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  14. "Israel said to refuse to extradite teen JCC bomb hoaxer to US". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  15. Pulwer, Sharon (24 April 2017). "JCC Bomb Hoaxer Indicted in Israel; Charged With Threatening to Kill Ex-Pentagon Official's Kids". Haaretz. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  16. Pileggi, Tamar (28 June 2018). "Israeli-US teen convicted of thousands of bomb threats, including against JCCs". Times of Israel. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  17. Bar Peleg (22 November 2018). "Israeli-American Who Terrorized U.S. Jews With Thousands of Bomb Threats Jailed for 10 Years". Haaretz.
  18. "US-Israeli bomb hoaxer given 10 year jail sentence - BBC News". BBC News. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  19. "U.S.-Israeli man sentenced in Israel over global bomb threats". Reuters. 22 November 2018.
  20. "Man held over US Jewish centre threats". BBC. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  21. Golshan, Tara (3 March 2017). "The first arrest made in connection to JCC bomb threats was about settling a personal score". Vox. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  22. Green, Emma (3 March 2017). "The FBI Arrests a Man for Making Bomb Threats Against Jewish Institutions". The Atlantic. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  23. Bekiempis, Victoria (13 June 2017). "Juan Thompson pleads guilty to anti-Semitic bomb threats". Daily News. New York. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
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