ST. LOUIS _ A discredited former St. Louis journalist launched a series of copycat bomb threats at Jewish organizations across the country as part of an effort to harass an ex-girlfriend, federal prosecutors said Friday.
Juan M. Thompson, 31, was arrested Friday morning on a cyberstalking charge after being accused of a bizarre, monthslong campaign. It culminated with emailed bomb threats to Jewish community centers, schools, a museum and other organizations on eight days in January and February, using either his ex-girlfriend's name or his own, a federal criminal complaint says. He would later publicly claim on social media that she was trying to falsely implicate him, the complaint says.
In January and February alone, 100 bomb threats were received at Jewish Community Centers and schools at 81 locations in 33 states and 2 Canadian provinces, the JCC Association of North America said Monday.
University City Police Lt. Fredrick Lemons said detectives would question Thompson about the headstones toppled at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery last month but declined to say whether he was considered a suspect.
Thompson appeared in court briefly Friday afternoon in khakis, boots and a button-down blue shirt. He was shackled at the wrists and ankles.
Thompson conferred with the assistant federal public defender appointed to his case, Lucille Liggett, before the hearing began. At the start of the hearing, Liggett did not concede that her client was Thompson, saying he was entitled to an identity hearing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard Marcus said FBI agents had identified Thompson as the man being sought and arrested by them, and U.S. Magistrate Judge David Noce referred to Thompson by name for the rest of the hearing.
Asked by Noce whether he had money for a private attorney, Thompson said that he had "a little money but I also have a large family."
Noce told him that he would keep Liggett on the case until a private attorney is hired.
Noce told Thompson that he would next appear in court Wednesday for the identity hearing, a detention hearing, a preliminary examination and a hearing to discuss Thompson's transfer to New York to face charges.
His family declined comment after the hearing, saying the assembled reporters knew more than they did about the case. One unidentified man later spoke up for Thompson's lack of any prior criminal record, telling reporters, "Not a jaywalking ticket, not a traffic ticket."
Liggett declined to comment, as did Marcus, who referred a reporter to prosecutors in New York.
The criminal complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the southern district of New York.
In a statement accompanying news of the arrest, Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York, 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."
Thompson's alleged threats are among dozens that have been received in recent months by Jewish organizations around the country.
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.
The campaign of anonymous emails was familiar to some St. Louis-area journalists.
Thompson's fraudulent reporting was the subject of an in-depth story in February 2016 by Riverfront Times reporter Doyle Murphy.
In November, area reporters, including two from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, received an anonymous email from a woman claiming that Murphy had committed a crime against her in 2001. The woman did not respond to replies from reporters, and there was no evidence to back up the claim.
On Friday, Murphy described in a news story a campaign of additional harassment by Thompson, and said that he had contacted St. Louis police, who were already working on the ex-girlfriend's case.
In a phone interview Friday, Murphy called the experience a "nightmare."
St. Louis police acknowledged assisting with the investigation, but referred other questions to the FBI.
The arrest Friday came just over seven months after Thompson and the New York woman broke up, the criminal complaint says. The two had a relationship, but she ended it, the complaint says.
The woman could not immediately be reached for comment.
The day after the breakup, the executive director of her company received an email from someone claiming to be a producer with a national news organization, claiming that the woman had been pulled over for DUI and was being sued for spreading a sexually transmitted disease, the complaint says.
Over the next few weeks, the woman received texts and emails from a Thompson friend and relative, falsely claiming that he had been robbed, shot and was now dying and was also the victim of a computer hacker who was responsible for her harassment, the complaint says.
For the next several months, the woman, co-workers and a board member of her company received emails that investigators would later trace to Thompson. Some claimed she had an STD. Others threatened to release nude photos of her.
In October, someone falsely reported seeing child porn on the woman's phone.
A New York police detective spoke to someone claiming to be Thompson on Nov. 22, and Thompson again claimed to have been hacked. The detective told Thompson that his "conduct must stop," and to leave the woman alone, the complaint says.
But on Jan. 28, a Jewish history museum in Manhattan received an anonymous email claiming Thompson put two bombs in the museum, the complaint says.
On Feb. 1, a Jewish school in Farmington Hills, Mich., and a Jewish school in Manhattan received threats saying Thompson had placed two bombs in each location and was eager for a "Jewish newtown," the FBI said, an apparent reference to the 2012 fatal shooting of 20 at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.
Around Feb. 7, a Jewish community center 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, again mentioning a "Jewish newtown."
The threats then began naming Thompson's ex, the complaint says.
On Feb. 20, the JCC in San Diego received an email claiming the woman had planted a bomb in hopes of killing "as many Jews asap."
Around Feb. 21, the Anti-Defamation League received a threat emailed to its midtown Manhattan office indicating that Thompon's ex-girlfriend "is behind the bomb threats against jews. She lives in nyc and is making more bomb threats tomorrow." The Council on American-Islamic Relations also received an email saying that the woman "put a bomb in the Jewish center in Dallas."
The next day, the ADL received a phone call claiming that explosive material had been placed in the ADL's midtown Manhattan office.
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 "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."
He also claimed to have been visited by agents of the U.S. Secret Service who asked about his tweets because an "awful white woman" reported him.
On Monday, when another wave of threats came in, Thompson tweeted: "Another week, another round of threats against Jewish ppl. In the middle of the day, you know who's at a JCC? Kids. KIDS." Thompson is not accused of making any threats that day.
His Twitter feed is rife with talk of race and politics, and a purported recent trip to Cuba. He is critical of the media, the rich, former President Barack Obama and current President Donald Trump. Back in December, he also had claimed that he would run for mayor of St. Louis. He said on Twitter he would "fight my damn heart out for working class ppl."
