Jewish schools in the UK were the target of the Israeli-American teenager charged with making thousands of hoax bomb threats, court documents confirm.
Papers filed in the US District Court of Florida state that Michael Ron David Kader, 18 was in possession of a USB drive that contained information on United Kingdom institutions alongside those in Canada, the US and Denmark.
The court papers, filed after an FBI investigation, also confirm that the folders on the USB were given names including ‘Bomb Threats to Jewish Institutions’ along with actual recordings of the threats that were made to schools, airlines, community centres and police.
Mr Kader was arrested in Tel Aviv on Monday and charged with multiple offences.
In January the JC revealed how Jewish schools across the UK were put on alert receiving a series of hoax bomb threats.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed they were alerted at 10.30am on January 9th to phone calls made to schools in Roehampton, Ilford and Brent in London, in which it was claimed explosive devices had been planted on the premises.
Officers conducted a thorough search of all three sites - and others schools were placed on emergency lock-down while the searches were concluded.
Mark Gardner, director of communications for the Community Security Trust told the JC on Tuesday that they believe Mr Kader was responsible for the threats to Jewish schools in the UK in January.
Mr Gardner said:“CST is closely following the transcripts and reporting of this trial. Our working belief is that the accused was responsible for the January 2017 threats to UK schools, but this is not yet certain.”
The court papers, filed on April 21 in Orlando, Florida, also confirm that reference to the threats in the UK was made between January and March this year.
The documents state: “The 2017 folder contained sub-folders for January, February, and March 2017.
“ These folders contained sub-folders for the United States, Canada, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and other countries.
“These country-specific subfolders contained recordings of the threatening calls to Jewish institutions and other locations. Some of the subfolders had names such as "Bomb Threats to Jewish Institutions." “
Mr Kadar was arrested by Israeli police in March, was charged in Florida and Georgia with making threatening communications, making threats related to explosives and cyberstalking.
The alleged offences date back to August 2015 in connection to threats made against primary schools and homes in Georgia.
Kadar, who has dual citizenship and lives in Israel, is said by his American-born mother to be autistic and to have a brain tumour, which she believes could explain his alleged behaviour. She told NBC News she is “shocked and horrified” at the allegations.
“He’s autistic. He can’t control it. He can’t think straight” she said, claiming he was home-schooled after he was unable to function in school due to a brain tumour.
