Boston In a case that U.S. authorities said showed a growing nationwide torrent of antisemitism following the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza last year, a man from Massachusetts entered a guilty plea on Monday to accusations that he threatened to kill Jews and bomb a synagogue.
At a federal court hearing in Boston, John Reardon entered a guilty plea to charges of threatening to kill children and bomb the Congregation Agudas Achim in a voicemail he left with the synagogue in Attleboro, Massachusetts, in January.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the defendant’s threats to kill Jewish children and bomb synagogues incited fear among the congregation at a time when Jews are already dealing with an alarming rise in threats.
The increase in threats came after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed almost 1,200 Israelis and sparked the war in Gaza. According to Gaza officials, Israel’s 13-month campaign in the territory has killed over 44,000 Palestinians and forced almost all of its residents to flee at least once.
“You do realize that by supporting genocide that means it’s OK for people to commit genocide against you,” the 59-year-old Reardon said in his two-minute message, according to the prosecution.
Court filings reveal that minutes later, Reardon contacted another synagogue in Sharon, Massachusetts, and left a message threatening to kill all Jews and stomp their babies dead into the ground.
In addition to a stalking allegation pertaining to what authorities claim were 98 calls he made to the Israeli consulate in Boston beginning in October 2023, he entered a guilty plea to threat-related charges involving those calls.
Those calls came to the attention of investigators after Reardon was arrested in January. Prosecutors said he made frightening or harassing remarks in numerous of the calls.
Prosecutors have agreed to propose that Reardon, of Millis, Massachusetts, receive a term of up to 2-1/2 years in prison as part of the aplea bargain. His sentence was scheduled on August 14 by U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick.
A request for response from Reardon’s lawyer was not answered.
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