A San Francisco man is finally facing jail time after his third arrest for threatening Bay Area synagogues, and he’s previously served time for stalking children at a Pac Heights elementary school.
SF DA Brooke Jenkins announced a conviction Monday afternoon of 39-year-old Anatoly Smolkin, for threatening to blow up a synagogue in the Inner Richmond, according to KPIX. As a release from the DA’s office explains, “On April 7, 2022, at about 12:05 PM, Mr. Smolkin walked to the front entrance of Temple Emanu-El and threatened to kill everyone there and blow up the synagogue.”
But Smolkin, who suffers from mental illness, has threatened two other Bay Area synagogues in the past, and has previously served prison time for 47 counts of stalking in a bizarre case involving a Pacific Heights elementary school.
1/ Today, District Attorney @BrookeJenkinsSF announced the conviction of Anatoly Smolkin after trial by jury for threatening a Jewish synagogue in the Inner Richmond.
— SF DISTRICT ATTORNEY (@SFDAOffice) August 7, 2023
He was convicted of making criminal threats. pic.twitter.com/z2wozN7NwW
"Criminal threats to blow up houses of worship that have been historically targeted must be taken seriously and aggressively prosecuted," Jenkins’s office said in the release. "Violent threats often come before violence, and it is imperative that we take steps to proactively protect the public."
Oh, does Smolkin have a history, and he was previously an attorney but he’s been long disbarred. Berkeleyside reported in 2021 that he was arrested for interrupting a Berkeley synagogue service and shouting that the Jewish people there were “going to burn in hell” and “going to pay for what you did to me.” A mere two months later, the Jewish News of Northern California notes he threatened families and children at SF’s Congregation Beth Sholom, and sent threatening emails to staff.
And he’s even served prison time before for a bizarre pattern of stalking in 2013, which netted 30 felony counts and 17 misdemeanors. In that series of incidents, Smolkin stalked employees at his former workplace, threatened to kill a police officer, and stalked children at the Town School for Boys (which was his own elementary school) in Pacific Heights.
And so it will be prison again for Smolkin when he is sentenced on August 28. He faces up to six years.
Related: Alleged Synagogue Shooter Pleads Not Guilty, But Gets Denied Release From Jail [SFist]
