BOSTON (AP) 鈥 A Massachusetts man was arrested Monday for allegedly threatening to kill members of the state鈥檚 Jewish community and a bomb local synagogues, the U.S. attorney鈥檚 office in Boston said.
John Reardon, 59, of Millis, Massachusetts, allegedly called Congregation Agudas Achim in Attleboro, Massachusetts, on Jan. 25 and left a voicemail making several threats to kill congregants and bomb the synagogue, including that 鈥渋f you can kill the Palestinians, we can kill you," federal authorities said. Ten minutes later, he allegedly made a call to another local synagogue and a Jewish organization.
Reardon, who had been in the custody of the Bristol County Sheriff's Office, has been charged with one count of using a facility of interstate commerce to threaten a person or place with harm via an explosive.
Reardon was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Boston Monday afternoon. If convicted, he faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
A number could not be found for Reardon and it wasn鈥檛 immediately clear if he has an attorney.
鈥淭he allegations here about the series of threats Mr. Reardon made against the Jewish community are deeply disturbing and reflect the increasing torrent of antisemitism across our country and right here in Massachusetts," Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement. 鈥淭he numbers do not lie 鈥 incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia are spiking.鈥
Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI, Boston Division, accused Reardon of 鈥渦sing his words as a weapon, leaving a threatening message to frighten members鈥 of Congregation Agudas Achim.
鈥淣o one should have to fear becoming the victim of physical violence at the hands of an angry stranger," Cohen said.
Since the and Israel鈥檚 subsequent bombardment of Gaza, there has been a sharp rise in incidents of against both Jewish and Muslim communities.
Hamas鈥 attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. About 250 people were taken captive, according to Israeli authorities. It set off an air and ground offensive by Israel鈥檚 military that has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, most of them women and minors, according to the Hamas-run in Gaza. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
