by Vita Fellig
“It’s important for Jews and non-Jews to see this kind of case come to closure in this way,” Jessica Anderson, of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, told JNS.
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The
New York Police Department at work in the morning of the first day of
the 79th General Assembly Debate on Sept. 24, 2024. Credit: Loey
Felipe/U.N. Photo. |
An Oregon man pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to making bomb threats against Jewish hospitals in Queens and Long Island, N.Y.
Beginning at least as early as May 2021, Domagoj Patkovic, 31, made six separate calls to Jewish hospitals and care centers in New York, during which he made violent threats, including threats to detonate explosive devices, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
John Durham, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, stated that Patkovic “intentionally targeted Jewish hospitals and care centers in our district with bomb threats. In doing so, he needlessly endangered patients and staff and diverted critical law enforcement resources from their core mission of keeping our community safe.”
“We will prosecute dangerous bomb threats and swatting schemes to the fullest extent of the law,” he stated.
In September 2021, Patkovic’s bomb threat—which turned out to be a hoax—resulted in a partial evacuation and lockdown of an entire hospital on Long Island. No explosive devices were found in any of the reported locations.
Patkovic was initially charged in August 2024. He faces up to 15 years in prison. (Prior to the plea, the Justice Department stated that he faced up to 155 years in prison.)
Jessica Anderson, regional security adviser for the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, told JNS that while Patkovic wasn’t charged with a hate crime, the Jewish community interprets his actions as antisemitic.
“For Jews hearing and responding to this type of incident, there is no change to how it’s interpreted. It’s an antisemitic act, and it feels like that for Jews,” Anderson told JNS. “The legal process, though, can be constrained by how it’s able to view facts or how it decides what is provable and what’s not.”
Anderson told JNS that the prosecution of this case is a reminder for the Jewish community to continue investing in security—a necessity that existed even before the dramatic rise in threats seen in the United States since Oct. 7, 2023.
“The numbers of antisemitic acts per year have been increasing since well before 2021, and although we’ve seen a steeper increase in the past year, this is really just a continuation of an already existing trend that is not lost on anyone in the Jewish community,” she said.
“Frankly, we expect it to continue,” Anderson told JNS. “We all know that there are many antisemitic acts that go unsolved, and I do think it is important for the Jewish community to see that people who are doing these acts are being held accountable.”
“It might take time, as this case certainly did, but ideally, we get to see these outcomes where the criminal justice system is there to investigate and bring the case to completion,” she added.
Patkovic’s prosecution serves as a deterrence to future attacks, according to Anderson.
“It’s important for non-Jews to see this, and see that there are people out there who are doing this type of activity and that they’re going to be held accountable,” she said. “I think it’s important for Jews and non-Jews to see this kind of case come to closure in this way.”
“Jewish organizations should be reminded to really double down on their reporting,” she added. “One of the challenges is that we can get used to the type of activity we’re seeing, and as a result, it sometimes doesn’t get reported. That’s why it’s so important for both individuals and organizations to report incidents, even if they seem minor.”
Anderson told JNS that the Jewish community should be prepared to respond to bomb threats and other security concerns.
“Most Jewish institutions are very aware of security but can get complacent about this kind of activity, and we never know when and where a bomb threat is going to get called in,” she said. “It’s important that you have a plan that is communicated with your community members, your staff and your organizational leaders about what they need to do.”
“We can never know where or when these things are going to happen,” she added. “We’ve seen them happen in large places in New York City, and we’ve seen them in smaller places like Colleyville, Texas. Be prepared even though you think it might never happen in your area.”
Vita Fellig
Source: https://www.jns.org/oregon-man-pleads-guilty-to-bomb-threat-against-jewish-nyc-hospitals/
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