FBI Suspects Overseas Source for Wave of False Bomb Threats to U.S. Jewish Institutions
As the FBI investigates over 400 fake bomb threats targeting American Jewish institutions since last weekend, they believe the perpetrators share a distinct language and email handling techniques, and hail from outside the United States. The United Nations, anti-defamation league, and Safe Communities Network have also reported similar incidents across various states.
In an interview with CNN, the FBI highlighted similarities among the threats, hinting at a possible connection between the phony attackers. The agency further stated that none of the emails contained an actual explosive device or posed a legitimate risk to the community members.
Oren Segal, Van Pelt Executive Director of the Center on Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), expressed confidence that a single person or a small group of individuals were responsible for the threats. Segal stated that observed inconsistencies in the nature of the threats and the claimed responsible entities represented an old tactic now leveraged with modern technology. Segal also noted that online dissemination of threats was cheaper and easier to cover up than ever before in human history.
Following the inter-agency probe, the FBI revealed that more than 30 different field offices across the country were actively probing the threats. Furthermore, the FBI expressed awareness of the hoaxes yet asserted a lack of meaningful evidence indicating an imminent, credible threat at the moment.
False bomb threats flooded Jewish institutions just days after the start of Chanukkah, with a surge in threats against the Jewish community following a war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Since December, reports of hate crimes and biased incidents against Jews, Muslims, and Arabs have spiked in the US, fueling concerns over rising hate groups and their activities.
Contributions by Sabrina Shulman and John Miller for CNN.
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While the sources do not provide specific information regarding the countries of origin for the bomb threats, domestic cases involving individuals making hoax bomb threats to Jewish institutions have been reported. In particular, an Israeli citizen known as the "Ashkelon hacker" pleaded guilty to making false bomb threats against Jewish community centers in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel. However, this individual is not connected to the case mentioned in the article about Domagoj Patkovic, who is based in the United States.
