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Federal prosecutors in Boston charged John Reardon, 59, after
they said he left a voice mail with the Congregation Agudas
Achim, a synagogue in Attleboro, Massachusetts, on Thursday,
threatening to bomb places of worship and kill children.
Prosecutors said Reardon in the voice mail said that "if you can
kill the Palestinians we can kill you," and that "you do realize
that by supporting genocide that means it's OK for people to
commit genocide against you."
Prosecutors said that 10 minutes after leaving that voicemail,
Reardon called another synagogue and a local Jewish affiliated
organization.
He was arrested by local police after those calls. A
spokesperson for the local district attorney in Bristol County
said his office was dismissing earlier charges filed in state
court against him after federal prosecutors took jurisdiction.
Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy in a statement called the
allegations "deeply disturbing" and an example of a "torrent of
antisemitism" nationally. "The numbers do not lie - incidents of
antisemitism and Islamophobia are spiking," he said.
U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland has cited a rising number of such
threats domestically since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that
killed some 1,200 Israelis and prompted the war in Gaza.
Israel's assault on Gaza has killed at least 26,600 people,
according to health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave.
Reardon was charged with using a facility of interstate commerce
to threaten a person or place with harm via an explosive. The
charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.
He is being held without bail. A court-appointed lawyer did not
respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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