Israel convicts hacker who threatened US Jewish centers

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Israel convicts hacker who threatened US Jewish centers

2018-06-29 13:18 Last Updated At：13:18

An Israeli court on Thursday convicted a Jewish Israeli man on charges including extortion for making a string of bomb threats targeting U.S. Jewish community centers, airlines and shopping malls — capping a case that had raised fears of a wave of anti-Semitism in the United States.

The Tel Aviv district court did not identify the man because he was a teen when he committed the crimes. But a separate U.S. indictment has identified him as Michael Ron David Kadar, a dual American-Israeli citizen.

Kadar's arrest in March 2017 followed a trans-Atlantic investigation with the FBI and other international law enforcement agencies.

Police said the 19-year-old, from southern Israel, used advanced technologies to mask the origin of his calls and communications to synagogues, community buildings and public venues.

In early 2017, there were dozens of bomb threats against Jewish community centers and day schools across the U.S. and in Canada, according to the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish group that battles anti-Semitism. The threats led to evacuations, sent a chill through local Jewish communities and raised fears of rising anti-Semitism.

The Israeli indictment said that besides the Jewish centers, Kadar also targeted airports, malls, police stations and Republican state Sen. Ernesto Lopez from Delaware. He also offered his intimidation services over the internet in return for compensation in Bitcoin.

In all, Kadar was accused of making over 2,000 threats.

Among the allegations in the Israeli indictment were making a bomb threat against an El-Al flight to Israel that sparked fighter jets to be scrambled, and threatening a Canadian airport, which required passengers to disembark on emergency slides. Six people were injured. He was also accused of threatening a Virgin flight that as a result dumped eight tons of fuel over the ocean before landing, and threatening a plane being used by the NBA's Boston Celtics.

According to court documents, the defense claimed the suspect was mentally ill and had acted out of boredom.

While finding him to be on the autism spectrum, the court said there were no signs of mental illness. It said he was highly intelligent and had gone to great lengths to cover up his acts, proving he understood right from wrong.

Police had said he used sophisticated "camouflage technologies" to disguise his voice and mask his location. They said a search of his home uncovered antennas and satellite equipment.

The judge wrote that investigators had determined the young man enjoyed making people panic and putting them in fear and stress.

Prosecutor Yoni Hadad said Kadar was convicted on charges including extortion, publishing false information, money laundering and violations of computer laws. "He caused panic and terrorized many people, and disrupted their lives," he said.

It wasn't immediately clear when Kadar would be sentenced or how much time behind bars he could face.

Defense lawyer Yoram Sheftel said his client was the first person with autism to be put on trial in Israel. "Our courts keep expanding the scope of convictions," he said.

In the U.S., Kadar also faces federal hate crimes, bomb threats, hoax and cyberstalking charges that could potentially put him behind bars for decades, according to an indictment issued in February. Israel has reportedly refused a U.S. request for extradition.

In a separate case, a U.S. federal court sentenced Juan Thompson, a former journalist from St. Louis, to five years in prison for threatening Jewish organizations as part of a cyberstalking case against a former girlfriend.

USC cancels graduation ceremony and dozens are arrested on other campuses as anti-war protests grow

2024-04-26 06:54 Last Updated At：07:00

The University of Southern California canceled its main graduation ceremony Thursday and hundreds of college students were arrested at other campuses nationwide as protests against the Israel-Hamas war continued to spread.

College officials across the U.S. are worried the ongoing protests could disrupt plans for commencement ceremonies next month. Some universities called in police to break up the demonstrations, resulting in ugly scuffles and arrests nationwide, while others appeared content to wait out student protests as the final days of the semester ticked down.

Schools such as Columbia University continued to negotiate with protesters, while others are rewriting their rules to ban encampments and moving final exams to new locations.

But encampments and protests continued to spring up Thursday. A tent encampment popped up at Indiana University Bloomington before police with shields and batons shoved into a line of protesters, arresting an unknown number.

At the City College of New York, hundreds of students who were gathered on the lawn beneath the Harlem campus’ famed gothic buildings erupted in cheers after a small contingent of police officers retreated from the scene. In one corner of the quad, a “security training” was held among students who said they expected to be arrested in the coming hours.

Students protesting the war are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies enabling the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.

USC announced the cancellation of the May 10 graduation ceremony a day after more than 90 protesters were arrested on campus. The university said it will still host dozens of commencement events, including all the traditional individual school commencement ceremonies.

Tensions were already high after USC canceled a planned commencement speech by the school’s pro-Palestinian valedictorian, citing safety concerns.

“We understand that this is disappointing; however, we are adding many new activities and celebrations to make this commencement academically meaningful, memorable, and uniquely USC," the university said in a statement Thursday.

The Los Angeles Police Department said 93 people were arrested Wednesday night during a campus protest for allegedly trespassing. One person was arrested on allegations of assault with a deadly weapon.

At Emerson College in Boston, 108 people were arrested overnight at an alleyway encampment. Video shows police first warning students in an alleyway to leave. Students link arms to resist officers, who move forcefully through the crowd and throw some protesters to the ground.

“As the night progressed, it got tenser and tenser. There were just more cops on all sides. It felt like we were being slowly pushed in and crushed,” said Ocean Muir, a sophomore.

“For me, the scariest moment was holding these umbrellas out in case we were tear-gassed, and hearing them come, and hearing their boots on the ground, just pounding into the ground louder than we could chant, and not being able to see a single person,” she said.

Muir said police lifted her by her arms and legs and carried her away. Along with other students, Muir was charged Thursday with trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Emerson College leaders had warned students that the alley was a public right-of-way and city authorities had threatened to take action if the protesters didn’t leave. Emerson canceled classes Thursday, and Boston police said four officers suffered injuries that were not life-threatening during the confrontation.

The University of Texas at Austin campus was much calmer Thursday after 57 people were jailed and charged with criminal trespass a day earlier. University officials pulled back barricades and allowed demonstrators onto the main square beneath the school’s iconic clock tower.

Thursday's gathering of students and some faculty protested both the war and Wednesday’s arrests, when state troopers in riot gear and on horseback bulldozed into protesters, forcing hundreds of students off the school’s main lawn.

At Emory University in Atlanta, local and state police swept in to dismantle a camp, although the university said the protesters weren't students but rather outside activists. Some officers carried semiautomatic weapons, and video shows officers using a stun gun on one protester whom they had pinned to the ground.

Jail records showed 22 people arrested by Emory police were charged with disorderly conduct.

Protesters at Emory chanted slogans supporting Palestinians and opposing a public safety training center being built in Atlanta. The two movements are closely entwined in Atlanta, where there have been years of “Stop Cop City” activism against the center.

Many colleges, including Harvard University, were choosing not to take immediate action against protesters who had set up tents, even though they were openly defying campus rules. And some colleges were making new rules, like Northwestern University, which hastily changed its student code of conduct Thursday morning to bar tents on its suburban Chicago campus.

George Washington University said it would move its law school finals from a building next to the protest encampment to a new location because of the noise.

The current wave of protests was inspired by events at Columbia University in New York, where police cleared an encampment and arrested more than 100 people last week, only for students to defiantly put up tents again, in an area where many are set to graduate in front of families in a few weeks.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said the ability to embrace student voices and different perspectives was a hallmark of the nation’s growth but warned authorities wouldn’t tolerate hate, discrimination or threats of violence.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began, the U.S. Education Department has launched civil rights investigations into dozens of universities and schools in response to complaints of antisemitism or Islamophobia. Among those under investigation are many colleges facing protests, including Harvard and Columbia.

Perry reported from Meredith, New Hampshire. Contributing to this report were Associated Press journalists in various locations including Stefanie Dazio, Kathy McCormack, Jim Vertuno, Acacia Coronado, Sudhin Thanawala, Jeff Amy, Mike Stewart, Collin Binkley, Carolyn Thompson, Jake Offenhartz and Sophia Tareen.