A Massachusetts man who waged a months-long campaign of violent, antisemitic threats against Jewish institutions has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison.

John Reardon, 60, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston to 26 months behind bars after pleading guilty in November to multiple charges stemming from what prosecutors called a “relentless series” of threats targeting shuls and the Israeli consulate in Boston in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

According to prosecutors, Reardon began making the threats on October 7 itself, placing dozens of calls and voicemails to Jewish institutions over the following months. His messages were explicit, prosecutors said, threatening to bomb Jewish institutions, kill Jewish children, and invoking Holocaust-era genocide.

In one voicemail to a synagogue in Attleboro on January 25, 2024, Reardon said: “You do realize that by supporting genocide that means it’s OK for people to commit genocide against you.”

Prosecutors said Reardon also warned that “supporting the killing of innocent little children” meant “it’s OK to kill your children.” He placed another threatening call to a shul in Sharon and repeatedly targeted the Israeli consulate — calling it 98 times over several months. In one message, he told consulate staff it was “time to prepare the furnaces again,” referencing the Nazi extermination of Jews during the Holocaust.

Reardon was arrested in January 2024, as the Justice Department warned of a nationwide surge in antisemitic threats following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

His attorney, who sought a nine-month sentence, argued that mental health issues fueled the crimes, calling them “terrifying, deeply hurtful, and [causing] lasting fear in the victims.” Prosecutors countered that the scope, persistence, and violent nature of Reardon’s threats demanded a significant sentence to protect Jewish communities and deter similar acts.

Reardon will serve his sentence in federal custody, followed by three years of supervised release.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)