Juan M. Thompson facts for kids

Juan M. Thompson (born c. 1985) is an African-American former journalist who was later convicted for cyberstalking and making several bomb threats to Jewish Community Centers in the U.S.

Personal background

Thompson is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and was connected to the student newspaper. However, Thompson failed to graduate. He was a summer intern with DNAinfo Chicago and an intern for a WBEZ talk show for four months.

In November 2016, Thompson announced plans to run for mayor of St. Louis, but failed to raise money in an online campaign, only raising $25 from a single donation.

Post-termination

Following his termination from The Intercept, a reporter from The Riverfront Times documented Thompson's history of ethical breaches in his job. This reportedly prompted Thompson to harass the reporter. ..... The accounts were later shut down by investigators.

On July 7, 2016, Thompson posted a 5,000-word essay in which he ranted against what he claimed to be "[t]he white New York media" and claimed The Intercept had launched a racist smear campaign against him. In 2017, he had been working as communications director for the Gateway Housing Foundation a small, St. Louis-based, non-profit organization dedicated to helping the homeless. The Gateway Housing Foundation released a statement that Thompson had only worked there a short time and was released prior to his making bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers.

Cyberstalking and bomb threats

..... According to officials, Thompson phoned in and emailed many of the threats under his ex-girlfriend's name in an effort to frame her. Thompson also made at least one threat under his own name, under the pretense that his ex-girlfriend was framing him. He had also emailed the Anti-Defamation League in his own name in late February 2017, pointing to his ex-girlfriend as the perpetrator of all of the bomb threats.

Thompson was arrested in March 2017 by the FBI in St. Louis for allegedly making bomb threats against at least eight Jewish community centers. He was also charged with one count of cyberstalking. He was extradited to New York and appeared in Manhattan federal court on March 29, where his public defender declined to seek bail.

On April 10, Thompson pleaded not guilty to the charge of cyberstalking. He was scheduled to reappear in court on May 18. On June 13, Thompson pleaded guilty to one count of cyberstalking and one count of sending bomb threats to Jewish community centers. In December 2017, he was sentenced to five years in prison.