JCC Bomb Threat Suspect Is Denied Bail

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By Marcy Oster March 14, 2017

(JTA) — The St. Louis man accused of making at least eight bomb threats against Jewish community centers and the Anti-Defamation League must remain in jail until his trial, a federal judge in that city ruled.

The allegations against Juan Thompson, 32, are “very serious,” U.S. District Court Judge David Noce said Monday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Noce said that allowing Thompson to post bail and leave jail would “not reasonably assure the court that he will not endanger the safety of any other person or the community.”

Thompson, who was arrested March 3, has been charged with cyberstalking, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. He has no previous criminal record. He made some of the threats in the name of a former romantic partner he had been cyberstalking, according to the U.S. Attorney of Southern New York.

Thompson’s public defender at a hearing last week had requested house arrest and GPS monitoring.

More than 150 threats have been received by JCCs, Jewish schools and other Jewish institutions since the beginning of the year, according to the Secure Community Network, which coordinates security across Jewish organizations in North America.

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