ST. LOUIS _ A St. Louis man was arrested for making bomb threats against Jewish facilities across the country as part of an effort to harass an ex-girlfriend, authorities said Friday.
Juan Thompson, 31, was arrested in St. Louis and accused of making multiple threats against centers. The complaint was filed in the southern district of New York. Thompson will appear in federal court in Missouri on Friday afternoon on a charge of cyberstalking, authorities said. He could not be reached for comment and it was not clear if he had a lawyer to speak for him.
University City Police Lt. Fredrick Lemons said detectives would also question Thompson about the headstones toppled at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery on Feb. 18 and 19, but declined to say whether he was considered a suspect.
"All avenues are being investigated," Lemons said. The department planned to release a statement later Friday.
Thompson made news a year ago when he was fired by the online magazine The Intercept for a variety of ethical breaches including using fabricated quotes.
Authorities said he made the threats as part of an attempt to harass an ex-girlfriend.
In January and February, Thompson made at least eight JCC threats as part of his harassment campaign, according to a statement from Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
On or about Feb. 21, 2017, the Anti-Defamation League received a threat emailed to its midtown Manhattan office indicating that Thompson's ex-girlfriend "is behind the bomb threats against jews. She lives in nyc and is making more bomb threats tomorrow."
The next day, the ADL received a phone call claiming that explosive material had been placed in the ADL's midtown Manhattan office.
Some of the threats appeared to have been made in Thompson's own name, as part of an effort to claim that the victim was trying to frame him.
For instance, on or about Feb. 7, a JCC in Manhattan received an emailed bomb threat from an anonymous email account, that said, "Juan Thompson put two bombs in the office of the Jewish center today. He wants to create Jewish newtown tomorrow."
Thompson's Twitter account was also used to accuse the ex-girlfriend of the JCC threats and claim that she was framing him.
On Feb. 24, a tweet said that the woman "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. I got a visit from the FBI. So now I'm battling the racist FBI and this vile, evil, racist white woman."
In a statement, Bharara said: "Threats of violence targeting people and places based on religion or race _ whatever the motivation _ are unacceptable, un-American, and criminal. We are committed to pursuing and prosecuting those who foment fear and hate through such criminal threats."
