A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of threatening to kill Jews and bomb a synagogue, and U.S. prosecutors said the case reflected a rising national wave of anti-Semitism since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza last year.
During a hearing in Boston Federal Court, John Reardon pleaded guilty to threatening to bomb Congregation Agudas Achim and threatening to kill children in a voicemail left at the synagogue in Attleboro, Massachusetts, in January.
He was charged during what U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland called a “staggering” increase in threats to Jews and Jewish institutions since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis. and was the trigger for the current war in Gaza.
Israel’s 13-month offensive has killed more than 44,000 people in Gaza and displaced nearly the enclave’s entire population at least once, according to Gaza authorities.
Prosecutors said that in his two-minute voice message, Reardon, 59, said: “if you can kill the Palestinians, we can kill you” and “do you realize that supporting genocide means it is OK for people to commit genocide against you.”
The same day, Reardon called another synagogue in the state and left a voicemail threatening to “kill all the Jews and stomp on their dead babies on the floor,” according to charging documents.
He pleaded guilty to charges related to threats relating to those calls, as well as one count of stalking related to electronic communications over three months that caused emotional distress to employees at the Israeli consulate in Boston.
He was arrested in January by local police following the calls to synagogues, and federal prosecutors filed charges shortly thereafter.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to recommend that Reardon, of Millis, Massachusetts, be sentenced to up to two and a half years in prison. U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick has scheduled his sentencing announcement for August 14.
Reardon’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
This content was originally published in Massachusetts resident pleads guilty to threatening to blow up synagogue on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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