By Yanki Farber
A 31-year-old Oregon resident has been sentenced to five years in prison after making a series of bomb threats against hospitals associated with the Jewish community in New York. Domagoj Patkovic of Portland pleaded guilty to making repeated threatening phone calls between May and September 2021 to hospitals and care facilities in New York City and Long Island, using explicit antisemitic language and falsely claiming he had planted explosives.
Federal prosecutors emphasized the specific threat Patkovic posed to Jewish institutions in New York. “The defendant endangered patients and diverted critical law enforcement resources to pursue his hateful agenda against Jews,” stated U.S. Attorney Joseph Nussbaum. “His actions fueled a rising tide of antisemitism in America. Our office will continue to aggressively prosecute hate-based threats, especially those targeting vulnerable communities in hospitals and care centers.”
According to the indictment, Patkovic made at least six separate threats in calls to hospitals, as well as a threat relayed to local law enforcement responding to one of the emergencies. To amplify his impact, he even livestreamed some of the threatening calls over social media and other online platforms.
Police responded to several of the threats by conducting bomb sweeps at the targeted institutions. In one incident in September 2021, a bomb threat led to a partial evacuation and full lockdown of a hospital on Long Island. No explosives were found at any of the locations.
The case highlights ongoing concerns about hate-fueled violence and threats directed at Jewish institutions, particularly in major urban centers like New York.
