Miami Man Accused Of Threatening To "Explode The Jewish Community"
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A Miami man was arrested after Miami Beach police said he threatened to "explode the Jewish community.
Jorge Rucinqu, 26, reportedly made the threatening calls to the Bagel Time Cafe on Alton Road.
The woman who took the calls, fearing for her safety, contacted the police. She said the caller never identified himself and "continued to intimidate the victim because she is Jewish," according to his arrest report.
"They received constant, just a berate of phone calls continuously, intimating them, harassing them, threatening them," said Miami Beach Police Officer Ernesto Rodriguez. "And that's why they decided to stop taking the phone calls and call police."
Investigators say Rucinqu admitted he specifically targeted the Jewish community and did an online search with the key words Jew and Kosher.
"He was just making insinuations, because the fact that they were Jewish, the victim said she understood the individual say he wants to blow up the Jewish community," said Officer Rodriguez. "Just a lot of disturbing statements. "
David Barkey is with the Anti-Defamation League.
"This is deeply disturbing and of concern to us," he said.
Monday's incident comes as the ADL released its latest stats on Anti-Semitic Incidents in Florida.
In 2018 there were 76 reported. The study shows Non-criminal harassment was down while Vandalism and assault were Unchanged.
"The good news is the number of anti-Semitic incidents, non-criminal incidents are down," said Barkey. "The bad news is criminal incidents against the Jewish community have stayed level.
On a national level, we've recently seen two deadly attacks against the Jewish community, one at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, the other on Passover near San Diego.
"If you look at the national level, we had the worst attack against the Jewish community in the history of the Jewish community in the United States," said Barkey. "11 people murdered in their synagogue on Shabbat."
Barkey urges people to report any incidents of hate, including bigoted comments.
"If you are the victim of anti-Semitism, even if it is somebody calling you a name in the street, you need to contact ADL, because you can't' solve a problem unless you know the scope of the problem," he said.
Read: Anti-Defamation League's National Audit Of Anti-Semitic Incidents for 2018
Read: ADL Audit- Level Of Anti-Semitic Crimes In Florida Unchanged; Non-Criminal Incidents Decline
