A licensed tour guide and architectural historian from Maryland was arrested for making threats against the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia and other Jewish institutions for over a year.

Clift A. Seferlis, 55, of Garrett Park, Maryland, was arrested on charges of mailing threatening messages to the Jewish Museum, mentioning the building’s windows and referencing Kristallnacht, a pogrom during which the windows of Jewish shops and homes were smashed in Germany in 1938.

United States Attorney David Metcalf sent a press release detailing Seferlis’ offenses, including a letter he sent to the museum threatening its staff and accusing it of not caring about the plight of Gazan civilians.

“Do you — deep down — really care [sic] — really — about what is going on in Gaza? Will it take something happening to your beloved [institution] to make that happen,” Seferlis wrote.

His other targets included “Jewish organizations and entities located in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere,” according to the press release.

Seferlis allegedly referred to the “museum’s many big open windows,” “Kristallnacht,” “anger and rage,” and a need to “rebuild” the institution after its destruction.

“After 18 months of threatening letters sent to Jewish institutions from NY to DC, the FBI has made an arrest,” the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington wrote in a post on Xafter Seferlis’ arrest.

The arrest comes in the wake of a deadly attack last month at a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C.

On the night of May 21, 2025, a gunman opened fire outside the Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum in the American capital., killing two Israeli embassy staffers: 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky and 26-year-old Sarah Milgrim. The victims had just left a diplomatic event when Elias Rodriguez, a 31-year-old from Chicago, allegedly approached and shot them with a 9mm handgun before being subdued inside the museum. According to witnesses, he shouted “Free, Free Palestine!” while being arrested.

Authorities have charged Rodriguez with murder and firearms violations and are investigating the attack as a hate crime and possible act of terrorism.

The shooting has sparked widespread condemnation and renewed concerns over rising antisemitic violence in the U.S. since October 7.

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