Mississippi man charged with threats to Philly-area synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses
Prosecutors say Donavon Parish, 28, of Hattiesburg, Miss., repeatedly called delis and synagogues across the Philadelphia region with threats to put owners into 'work camps' and vows to 'gas the Jews'
A Mississippi man accused of harassing Philadelphia-area synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses with vows to put their owners “into work camps” has been indicted on federal cyberstalking charges, authorities said Thursday.
Donavon Parish, 28, of Hattiesburg, Miss., made the antisemitic threats between April and May 2022 through phone calls to at least three delis and three worship sites across the region, some of which he called up to 15 times a day, prosecutors said.
He “repeatedly referenced Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party’s genocide of approximately six million Jewish people,” according to the indictment unsealed Thursday. He “specifically stat[ed] among other things, ‘Heil Hitler,” ‘All Jews Should Burn,” ‘All Jews must die,’ “We will put you in work camps,’ ‘Gas the Jews,” and ‘Hitler should have finished the job.’”
Investigators did not identify in court filings the businesses and worship sites they say Parish targeted.
But because a special grand jury found that Parish’s alleged threats were motivated by the religion of the victims, he could face enhanced penalties should he be convicted on the counts of cyberstalking and interstate communication of threats with which he has been charged.
He faces up to five years in prison on the most serious of those charges under federal sentencing guidelines.
Parish was arrested Thursday morning by FBI agents in Mississippi and is expected to be extradited to Philadelphia in the coming weeks. It was not immediately clear from court dockets whether he had retained an attorney.
His arrest is the latest in a string of cases the U.S. Justice Department has brought in recent months as incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism and violence have risen in recent years.
Last year, the Anti-Defamation League tracked more than 3,600 reports of antisemitic intimidation — up 36% from the year before. That number made 2022 the year with the highest number of incidents since the organization began tracking them in 1979, it said.