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Suspect arrested in connection with threats made to some Jewish organizations

Seth Wenig/AP
/
WNYC Radio

NEW YORK (AP)  A Missouri police official says the man accused of threatening eight Jewish institutions and the Anti-Defamation League will also be questioned about the desecration of a Jewish cemetery. 

Authorities say 31-year-old Juan Thompson made the threats in an effort to harass and vilify his former girlfriend. They say some of the threats against the institutions were made in the woman's name. 

University City police Lt. Fredrick Lemons tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that detectives will question Juan Thompson about 154 headstones toppled at Chesed Shel Emeth  Cemetery in the St. Louis suburb. 

Vice President Mike Pence visited the cemetery after the February vandalism and spoke out against acts of hatred, prejudice, violence and anti-Semitism. 

The phone threat to the ADL's Manhattan headquarters was made Feb. 22. 

Thompson was expected to appear in a Missouri court later Friday on charges that include cyberstalking.

There was no immediate information on attorney who could comment on his behalf. 

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