By Nate Raymond
BOSTON (Reuters) – A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty on Monday to charges that he threatened to kill Jews and bomb a synagogue, and U.S. prosecutors said the case reflected a growing nationwide torrent of antisemitism after the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began last year.
John Reardon during a hearing in Boston federal court pleaded guilty to threatening to bomb the Congregation Agudas Achim and threatening to kill children in a voicemail he left with the Attleboro, Massachusetts-based synagogue in January.
He was charged during what U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has called a “stunning” increase in threats to Jews and Jewish institutions since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas that killed some 1,200 Israelis and prompted the war in Gaza.
Israel’s 13-month campaign in Gaza has killed more than 44,000 people and displaced nearly all the enclave’s population at least once, according to Gaza officials.
Prosecutors said that during his two-minute voicemail, Reardon, 59, said: “if you can kill the Palestinians we can kill you,” and that “you do realize that by supporting genocide that means it’s OK for people to commit genocide against you.”
That same day, Reardon called a different synagogue in the state and left a voicemail threatening the “killing of all Jews” and stomping their babies dead into the ground,” according to charging documents.
He pleaded guilty to threat-related charges concerning those calls as well as a stalking charge related to electronic communications he made over three months that caused emotional distress to employees of the Israeli consulate in Boston.
He was arrested in January by local police following his calls to the synagogues, and federal prosecutors filed charges soon after.
As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors have agreed to recommend that Reardon, of Millis, Massachusetts, be sentenced to up to 2-1/2 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick set his sentencing for Aug. 14.
Reardon’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by David Gregorio)
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