Federal authorities announced the arrest Friday of a St. Louis man accused of making at least eight threats against Jewish community organizations as part of ongoing harassment of his ex-girlfriend.
Juan Thompson, 31, is accused of making the threats in January and February as part of a "sustained campaign to harass and intimidate" his ex-girlfriend, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
Authorities believe Thompson is behind an email sent on Feb. 21 to the Anti-Defamation League's midtown Manhattan office.
"(Victim's name and birthdate) is behind the bomb threats against jews. She lives in nyc and is making more bomb threats tomorrow," the threat said, according to a criminal complaint.
One day later, the ADL got a call from a person who claimed that explosives had been put in the group's Manhattan office.
Investigators said that in addition to making threats in his ex-girlfriend's name, Thompson made threats in his own name as part of a ruse to make authorities think he was being framed. Prosecutors said he was named in an email sent on Feb. 7 to a Jewish community center in Manhattan.
"Juan Thompson ... put two bombs in the office of the Jewish center today. He wants to create Jewish newtown tomorrow," the threat said, apparently referencing the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut school shooting.
Thompson, who was identified by The Verge as a former reporter who was fired from The Intercept last year for fabricating quotes, posted on Twitter last month that his ex-girlfriend was harassing him and making threats against Jewish groups in his name.
"She, though I can't prove it, even sent a bomb threat in my name to a Jewish center, which was odd, given her antisemitic statements," he wrote. "I got a visit from the FBI."
Thompson is also accused of sending defamatory emails and faxes to his ex-girlfriend’s employer and falsely reporting that she had child pornography. Authorities questioned him in November after tracing the child pornography report to Thompson's home. He claimed his email account had been hacked, federal prosecutors said.
Authorities charged Thompson with one count of cyberstalking. If convicted he could face a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
"(Thompson) allegedly caused havoc, expending hundreds of hours of police and law enforcement resources to respond (to) and investigate the threats," New York Police Commissioner James P. O'Neill said. "We will continue to pursue those who peddle fear, making false claims about serious crimes."
Jonathan Grenblatt, CEO of the ADL, thanked investigators on Friday morning for their "amazing work."
Jewish community centers and day schools nationwide have seen a sharp increase in the number of threats levied against them this year. According to the JCC Association of North America, Jewish organizations across 33 states and two Canadian provinces saw 100 reported threats by late February.
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