Police: Threat Made To Blow Up Temple
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
SYRACUSE – A mother and daughter from Georgia women have been charged with threatening to blow up an upstate New York Jewish temple during a prayer service.
Peggy Davidson, 44, and her mother, Judy Overby, 74, both of McDonough, Ga., were charged with felony falsely reporting an incident and misdemeanor disruption of a religious service, a Syracuse police spokesman, Sergeant Tom Connellan, said.
In addition to making a threat against the Temple Adath Yeshurun in Syracuse, the women also threatened to blow up the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic temple in Jerusalem, Mr. Connellan said.
The women were being held in the Onondaga County jail without bail following an arraignment Sunday, Mr. Connellan said.
Rabbi Charles Sherman said his prayer service Saturday was interrupted when the women began screaming about redemption from the rear of the temple.
“They were ranting and raving at America and geopolitical stuff. They were all over,” Rabbi Sherman said.
The commotion ensued for several minutes before the rabbi stopped the service to usher the women out.
Police arrested the women as they sat in a Pennsylvania rental car outside the temple.
