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U.S.-Israeli Citizen Extradited From Norway Arraigned in Orlando on Federal Hate‑Crime Indictment

The arraignment begins a multi‑district federal prosecution of a suspect accused of a 2017 technology‑enabled campaign of hoaxes against Jewish institutions that carries decades in potential prison time.

Overview

  • Michael Ron David Kadar arrived in the United States on June 18 and was arraigned in Orlando on Monday, June 22, on a Middle District of Florida indictment charging hate crimes and obstruction of the free exercise of religion.
  • Federal prosecutors have filed related charges in Washington, D.C., and the Middle District of Georgia that allege additional counts including bomb threats, interstate threats, cyberstalking, and conveying false information to police dispatch.
  • The indictments say Kadar used technological means to place multiple bomb and active‑shooter hoax calls in early 2017 that forced closures, evacuations or lockdowns at Jewish community centers, schools and preschools in Florida while no explosives were found.
  • U.S. authorities say he was identified after an investigation that led to his arrest in Ashkelon, Israel; Kadar served about seven years in an Israeli prison, later traveled to Norway, was detained there at the U.S. request, and then extradited to the United States.
  • If convicted, Kadar faces up to 20 years per hate‑crime count, up to 10 years per bomb‑threat count and up to five years for interstate threats, and prosecutors frame the case as an attack on religious liberty while his motive remains disputed with prior psychiatric reports citing boredom.