Harassment Of Philly-Area Jewish Institutions Lands Man In Prison

PHILADELPHIA — A Mississippi man has been hit with a federal prison sentence after antisemitic harassment of Philadelphia area synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses.

United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said Donavon Parish, 29, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was sentenced to 24 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

According to a June 2023 indictment and superseding information filed this May, Parish used a Voice Over Internet Protocol service to make a series of phone calls in April and May 2022 to synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The district includes Philadelphia, Delaware, Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, Berks, and Lehigh counties.

In these calls, Parish spoke to individuals answering the telephone calls on behalf of their respective institutions, at which time he repeatedly referenced the genocide of approximately six million Jewish people during the Holocaust, stating, among other things, “Heil Hitler,” “all Jews must die,” “we will put you in work camps,” “gas the Jews,” and “Hitler should have finished the job.”

In June, Parish pleaded guilty to one count of cyberstalking and five counts of abuse and harassment using a telecommunications device. He also admitted to a special finding that he targeted his victims based on their actual and perceived religion.

"No member of our community should live in fear, regardless of where they work, live, or worship," Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia, said. "This sentence demonstrates the FBI and our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office will not tolerate such repeated and vile threats that seek to disrupt our community’s sense of safety and security, and we will bring the perpetrator to justice, no matter where they are."