Hoboken police stand guard outside Hoboken’s United Synagogue, Thursday, November 3, 2022, in Hoboken, NJ The FBI says it has received credible information about a threat to evangelicals synagogue in New Jersey.
Ryan Kryska / AP
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Ryan Kryska / AP
Hoboken police stand guard outside Hoboken’s United Synagogue, Thursday, November 3, 2022, in Hoboken, NJ The FBI says it has received credible information about a threat to evangelicals synagogue in New Jersey.
Ryan Kryska / AP
NEWARK, NJ (AP) – The FBI said Thursday it has received credible information about a “widespread” threat to synagogues in New Jersey.
The FBI’s Newark office released a statement urging synagogues to “take all security precautions to protect your community and facility.”
The warning was posted after officials discovered an online threat targeting New Jersey synagogues, a law enforcement official said. However, the post did not target any specific synagogue, the official said. The official could not publicly discuss the details of the investigation and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
More specifics were not released and a message was left with the FBI in Newark.
In Jersey City, Mayor Steven Fulop said police will be stationed at seven of the city’s synagogues and pedestrian patrols will be added to the broader Jewish community. In 2019, two attackers motivated by anti-Semitic hatred killed three people in a kosher market in Jersey City, along with a police officer.
Police officers armed with rifles guard a synagogue a city away, in Hoboken, where the director of public safety also announced increased patrols in Jewish communities.
Five years ago, two New Jersey men were sentenced to 35 years in prison after being convicted for a series of attacks in 2012, including the bombings of two synagogues. They also threw a Molotov cocktail at a rabbi’s home while he slept with his wife and children.
Josh Gottheimer, whose county includes part of an area in northern New Jersey affected by those attacks, said in a statement Thursday that Kanye West’s recent comments and post on social media shared by NBA star Kyrie Irving contributed to the issue.
Gottheimer said: “I am deeply concerned and outraged by today’s warning from the FBI. “This is what comes after years of hostile comments from public figures, including, most recently Kanye West, Kyrie Irving and others,” he said.
