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Man who threatened to blow up St. Louis Synagogue jailed for 30 months
The judge ordered him to receive a mental health evaluation as well as a custodial sentence
November 15, 2022 16:27
The judge ordered him to receive a mental health evaluation as well as a custodial sentence
November 15, 2022 16:27An man who said he hated Jews and threatened to kill worshippers in a synagogue has been sentenced to 30 months for threatening to blow up a synagogue.
Cody Steven Rush of St Louis, Missouri in the midwestern United States, was convicted last week after he pleaded guilty to the charge of threatening to blow up the city’s Central Reform Congregation.
He was arrested after repeatedly calling law enforcement and telling them he wanted to kill Jews at the St Louis synagogue.
On 5 November 2021, Rush called the FBI and said he wanted to blow up the synagogue “when they open tomorrow” because he “hates Jews. I am feeling suicidal and homicidal. I just feel like killing Jews.”
He then called a second time saying he hears voices, suffers from PTSD, anxiety and depression and social anxiety disorder. Referring to Jews, he said: “I hate them with a rage.”
When he called for the third time, Rush identified himself and provided the security service and police with his location, which was on the same street as the synagogue, allowing them to find him. When the authorities called back, he made further threats.
The sentence was a warning that “anyone who threatens the civil rights of others stands to lose his or her own freedom,” said FBI’s Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg. “Cody Steven Rush has already proven he is capable of violence with his criminal history. He attempted to burn down his own family’s home and a neighbour’s on separate occasions.”
District Judge Henry E. Autrey who delivered the sentence ordered that Rush undergo mental health evaluation during his time in prison.
Earlier this year, a British man was shot and killed after storming a synagogue in Texas and taking Jewish hostages. Malik Faisal Akram, who had travelled from Blackburn to target the place of worship was killed by the FBI hours after assault on the congregants during Shabbat services.