Arrest made in ongoing attack threats on Jewish institutions
Arrest happened in St. Louis, reportedly.
At least one arrest was made in New York in connection with bomb threats made against Jewish institutions.
The Anti-Defamation League shared news of the arrest on Friday morning on Twitter, and Paul Goldenberg, director of the Secure Community Network — an affiliate of the Jewish Federations of North America that advises Jewish groups and institutions on security — confirmed to JTA that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York Police Department made at least one arrest in cases of called-in bomb threats made against Jewish institutions, including the ADL.
The arrest was made by the FBI and the NYPD in the New York Metropolitan area, Goldenberg told JTA, adding that he had no further details at this time.
“The NYPD and the FBI made an arrest in NY related to bomb threats against the ADL,” Goldenberg said. “That is confirmed. The NYPD and the FBI have done an outstanding job in this regard and we at SCN and JFNA commend them and hold them in the highest regard.”
The last two weeks saw vandalism at Jewish cemeteries in Philadelphia, St. Louis and Rochester, N.Y., as well as two more waves of bomb threats called into Jewish community centers, schools and institutions across the country, representing the fourth and fifth waves of such harassment this year.
No bomb was found after any of the calls, but the threats prompted clamor for President Trump to condemn the anti-Semitism behind the targeting of these Jewish institutions.
After initially responding to questions about anti-Semitism with boasts about his electoral-college victory, Trump eventually called the threats to the community centers “horrible” and “painful,” and Vice President Pence paid a visit to a Jewish cemetery vandalized near St. Louis.
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