Self-described Nazi who threatened ADL offices sentenced to 2 years in prison
Andrzej Boryga, 67, left threatening voicemails at multiple offices of the Anti-Defamation League in 2022, reportedly said he’d decapitate staff ‘with pleasure’
JTA — American Jewish groups applauded the sentencing this week of a self-described Nazi in Indiana who left threatening voicemails at multiple offices of the Anti-Defamation League.
Andrzej Boryga, 67, received two years in federal prison and an additional two years of supervised release, the US Justice Department said Tuesday. He pleaded guilty to sending interstate threats and to targeting his victims based on their religion.
In a statement, the ADL, a Jewish anti-bigotry watchdog, thanked authorities “for prosecuting this perpetrator of violent threats against ADL, and for the dept’s commitment to protecting Jewish people and organizations in the face of unprecedented threats since the October 7th terror attack.”
The statement referenced the Hamas terror group’s rampage through southern Israel last year, when thousands of terrorists invaded from the Gaza Strip, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, starting the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
Antisemitic incidents surged worldwide in the wake of the attack, and have remained high in the months since.
Boryga’s actions occurred in 2022, the year before Hamas’s October 7 attack. He was indicted days before the attack. The Secure Community Network, a Jewish security agency, also commended the sentencing.
In one call to the Denver office, he reportedly identified himself as a Nazi and repeatedly threatened to decapitate ADL staff “with pleasure.” He also implied his grandfather was a Nazi SS officer who killed more than 120 Jews.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, who is Jewish, said in a release that “this defendant made heinous, repeated violent threats targeting Jewish people and organizations” and said the sentencing “represents the latest effort by the Justice Department to combat the disturbing increase in threats against Jews and Jewish institutions across the United States.” Garland also referenced October 7 in his statement.
The sentencing came the same week as another high-profile Justice Department sentencing for antisemitic crimes: A New Jersey man who pleaded guilty to stabbing and running over Orthodox Jews was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
The department claims to have sentenced more than 30 defendants “for criminal acts motivated by antisemitic hate” in recent months.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this article.
