BOSTON — A Massachusetts man was arrested Monday for allegedly threatening to kill members of the state’s Jewish community and bombing local synagogues, the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston said.
John Reardon, 59, of Millis, Massachusetts, allegedly called Congregation Agudas Achim in Attleboro, Massachusetts, on January 25 and left a voicemail in which he made several threats to kill congregants and bomb the synagogue, including that “if you kill the Palestinians can kill you, we can kill you,” federal authorities said. Ten minutes later he allegedly called another local synagogue and a Jewish organization.
Reardon, who was in the custody of the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office, has been charged with using an interstate commerce facility to threaten a person or place with harm via an explosive device.
Reardon was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Boston on Monday afternoon. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
No number could be found for Reardon and it was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney.
“The allegations here about the series of threats Mr. Reardon has made against the Jewish community are deeply troubling and reflect the growing tide of anti-Semitism in our country and here in Massachusetts,” Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement declaration. “The numbers don’t lie – cases of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are increasing.”
Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI, Boston Division, accused Reardon of “using his words as a weapon and leaving a threatening message to frighten the members” of the Agudas Achim congregation.
“No one should have to fear being the victim of physical violence by an angry stranger,” Cohen said.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and Israel’s subsequent bombardment of Gaza, there has been a sharp increase in cases of harassment and claims of bias against both Jewish and Muslim communities.
The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. According to Israeli authorities, approximately 250 people were captured. It triggered an Israeli army air and ground offensive that has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, most of them women and minors, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry in Gaza. The ministry makes no distinction between civilians and combatants during the count.