A Minneapolis man has been arrested and charged with making threats towards Temple Israel last month.
Prosecutors in Hennepin County charged 21-year-old Jaden Thomas Leblanc, of Minneapolis, with three counts of threats of violence and one count of fifth-degree assault in connection with a string of alleged encounters he had with the synagogue’s security team.
“[Leblanc] stated he has no issue with the Jewish community or faith but does with security guards,” the complaint reads.
According to the criminal complaint, Leblanc on Sept. 9 threw a beer bottle against the wall of Temple Israel’s playground and made a “gun gesture” and verbally threatened to shoot one of the team members when told to stay off the property.
The next day, Leblanc allegedly threw a beer bottle into the Temple Israel parking lot and then returned to his residence at Rita’s House, which provides housing for young adults experiencing homelessness.
There, a security guard approached the porch with the beer bottle and asked Leblanc to throw his bottles into the trash and not on the synagogue’s property.