Federal authorities have arrested a suspect behind at least eight bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers (JCC).
31-year-old Juan Thompson was detained in St. Louis in what federal prosecutors called a “campaign to harass and intimidate.”
ABC News: FBI and NYPD confirm an arrest has been made in connection with some threats/incidents against Jewish institutions. More to come.
— Dan Linden (@DanLinden) March 3, 2017
In a bizarre twist, Thompson is accused of making the threatening phone calls because he was cyberstalking an ex-girlfriend. He allegedly impersonated the woman and made the threats in her name.
Via ABC News:
A man accused of making at least eight threats against Jewish Community Centers was arrested by the FBI in St. Louis, Missouri, this morning.
The suspect, 31-year-old Juan Thompson, is accused of what federal prosecutors called a “campaign to harass and intimidate.” He’s charged in New York with cyberstalking a woman by communicating threats to JCCs in the woman’s name. Prosecutors said Thompson “appears to have made at least eight of the JCC threats as part of a sustained campaign to harass and intimidate” the woman after their romantic relationship ended.
The arrest comes after nearly 100 JCCs and schools nationwide received bomb threats this year in five separate waves.
It’s important to note that Thompson has been arrested for being behind only eight of nearly 100 bomb threats, and according to NBC News he is considered to be a copy-cat criminal.
Sources: Arrest made in some “copycat” threats to Jewish centers, but authorities do not believe suspect is behind larger wave across US.
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) March 3, 2017
In another twist, some are reporting that Thompson appears to be the journalist fired by the left-leaning investigative center The Intercept for fabricating quotes and sources for his stories, particularly regarding Charleston Church killer Dylann Roof.
Guy arrested for making anti-Semitic threats against JCCs once fired from The Intercept… for making up sources. https://t.co/jG3HrYdeE5
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) March 3, 2017
Thompson was also fired from Media Blackout USA after just two days for filing “fake reports.”
In February, Ivanka Trump joined a growing call to protect Jewish community centers and other houses of worship and religious centers while the number of bomb threats continued to rise.
America is a nation built on the principle of religious tolerance. We must protect our houses of worship & religious centers. #JCC
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) February 20, 2017
The White House also responded to the wave of threats:
BREAKING: @PressSec responds to my request for comment about wave of threats to Jewish community centers. @NBCNews pic.twitter.com/2Yq9atnAmt
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) February 20, 2017
It’s a good thing to have one of the culprits off the streets, but it would appear with the sheer number of threats being made that there are others out there that need to be tracked down and arrested.
Comment: What do you think of a suspect in the JCC bomb threat case being arrested? Share your thoughts below.
