FBI Releases Statement On Mercer Island Jewish Community Center Bomb Threat

MERCER ISLAND, WA - On Friday, law enforcement officials announced the arrest of a man believed to be behind a handful of bomb threats made to Jewish community centers and schools across the U.S. over the last few months.

However, authorities believe that the suspect, Juan Thompson, was a copycat, and was making threats to get revenge on an ex-girlfriend. Thompson allegedly called in a bomb threat to a Jewish community center in Manhattan, but he has not yet been linked to the threat made against the Mercer Island Stroum JCC on Monday.

The Mercer Island police department released a statement from the Seattle FBI office about its investigation of the Stroum threat:

"The FBI's Seattle Field Office is in communication with our local partners who are investigating the threat to the Mercer Island center. The FBI and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division continue to investigate possible civil rights violations in connection with threats to Jewish Community Centers across the country. Even with [Friday's]arrest, that investigation remains active and ongoing. Thanks for understanding that it would be inappropriate to comment on particular threats outside the eight charged in today’s federal complaint out of the Southern District of New York."

Stroum JCC CEO Amy Lavin told Patch.com on Thursday that the center was open for business all week, and that there has been an outpouring of support for the organization.

"The extended [Mercer Island] community here has been phenomenal," she said.

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