Law enforcement sources told NBC 4 New York the suspect, Juan Thompson, was arrested in St. Louis in connection with multiple threats against Jewish centers, including some in the New York tri-state area. But additional sources told NBC News Thompson is not believed to be the person behind the series of threats targeting Jewish community centers across the nation in recent months.
Thompson is considered a “copycat,” the sources said. A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan indicated that Thompson was trying to “harass and intimidate” an unnamed victim with whom he had a relationship.
He allegedly made at least eight of the JCC threats – some in the victim’s name, and some in his own name, as part of a purported campaign to smear the victim. Thompson allegedly went to extreme lengths to do so, including sending hoax faxes to the woman’s employer alleging she had made anti-Semitic statements on social media, according to the complaint.
The FBI complaint quotes Thompson’s purported Twitter account as saying on Feb. 24, “Know any good lawyers? Need to stop this nasty/racist #whitegirl I dated who sent a bomb threat in my name & wants me to be raped in jail.”
… Thompson faces charges of cyberstalking and other crimes in connection with the threats. He is expected to be arraigned in federal court in Missouri later Friday. Information on an attorney for him wasn’t immediately available.
“Today, we have charged Juan Thompson with allegedly stalking a former romantic interest by, among other things, making bomb threats in her name to Jewish Community Centers and to the Anti-Defamation League,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara said. “Threats of violence targeting people and places based on religion or race – whatever the motivation – are unacceptable, un-American, and criminal.”
