A former journalist from St. Louis who was arrested on a cyberstalking charge related to threats against Jewish organizations made his first New York court appearance on Wednesday and was given legal representation.
Juan Thompson, who was transferred from St. Louis, appeared briefly in federal court, where U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV appointed an attorney to represent him.
The attorney, Mark Gombiner, declined to make a bail argument, so Thompson will likely remain incarcerated until an April 10 hearing. Gombiner declined to comment outside court.
Prosecutors said Thompson made threats against at least eight Jewish community centers, schools or other facilities to harass his girlfriend. The government alleges in court papers that he sometimes emailed threats using the woman's name or used his name but claimed she was trying to implicate him.
Thompson was fired from the online publication The Intercept last year after being accused of fabricating story details.
Since Jan. 9, there have been more than 150 bomb threats against Jewish community centers and day schools in 37 states and two Canadian provinces, according to a report last week by the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish group that battles anti-Semitism.
Israeli police last week arrested a young Israeli-American man in Jerusalem and said he was the primary suspect in the majority of the threats.
|
|
Lawyer News RSS
