St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, MissouriiStock

A man who admitted to threatening to blow up a St. Louis Reform synagogue has been sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Cody Steven Rush, 30, was convicted of the crime last week after pleading guilty to threatening to blow up the Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis.

Rush admitted in August that he called the St. Louis office of the FBI in November 2021. During the call, he said: “I’m going to blow up a church.” He gave his name and identified the target as the Central Reform Congregation, which is a Reform synagogue in St. Louis.

He also said that he would commit the attack the next morning, when people were inside the building, adding that he hated Jews.

According to the DOJ, Rush called back a second time and threatened to attack the congregation “while they are in service.”

When he was asked if he had anything else to say, Rush replied: “Yeah, that I hate them with rage.”

During a third call, Rush gave the FBI his current location, which was on the same street as the Central Reform Congregation. When the FBI called him back again, he made additional threats.

Officers with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI located Rush, who said that he was “feeling suicidal and homicidal. I just feel like killing Jews.”

He was placed in custody without incident.

District Judge Henry E. Autrey in announcing the sentence also ordered Rush to undergo mental health testing while in prison, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

Rush had faced up to 10 years in prison.