The FBI said on Nov. 3 that it has received “credible information” of a “broad threat” to synagogues in New Jersey.
The Newark FBI shared the warning on Twitter while asking members of the public to “take all security precautions to protect your community and facility.”
“We will share more information as soon as we can. Stay alert. In case of emergency call [the] police,” officials
said.The agency added that it is taking a proactive measure by issuing the warning while it conducts an investigation into the matter and is engaging with its faith-based partners in the affected community.
In a separate
statement on Twitter New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said that he had been in contact with the New Jersey Attorney General, Homeland Security, and FBI Newark regarding “a credible threat to synagogues” in the area and that they are “closely monitoring the situation and are working with local law enforcement to ensure that all houses of worship are protected.”
Elsewhere, the New York Police Department said in a
statement that it is aware of the FBI’s alert and, out of an “abundance of caution” its intelligence and counterterrorism bureaus are working with the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force to “ensure the safety and well-being of every area that encompasses our Jewish citizens and synagogues here in New York City and the tri-state area.”
Rise in Antisemitic Incidents
The alert comes amid a rise in antisemitic incidents across the United States, with 2,717 antisemitic incidents throughout the country in 2021, according to an
audit by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). That marks a 34 percent increase from the 2,026 incidents tabulated in 2020 and the highest number on record since ADL began tracking such incidents in 1979.
Of the 2,717 incidents recorded in 2021, 1,776 were cases of harassment, and 853 incidents were cases of vandalism, according to ADL.
The non-governmental organization said on Thursday that it is working with the FBI as they mobilize to address this credible threat and advised synagogues and other Jewish organizations to “remain calm and in a heightened state of alert.”
New Jersey was home to one of the worst
antisemitic attacks in recent years in 2019 when two shooters opened fire in a kosher supermarket in Jersey City, killing six people, including the suspects.
According to the Berman Jewish DataBank’s 2018 survey (
pdf), there were 545,450 Jews in New Jersey, who made up 7.9 percent of the total U.S. Jewish population.
Elsewhere on Thursday, New Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop
tweeted that extra police would be deployed to the city’s seven synagogues and the broader Jewish community until more information about the threat was available.
