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Nonprofit organizations thrive on community engagement, and events are often the centrepiece of that mission. Whether it’s a holiday celebration, a fundraising gala, or a public awareness campaign, these gatherings bring people together in meaningful ways. Yet, they also introduce risks that must be carefully managed.

Risk Assessment 

The event preparation process begins with a clear-eyed assessment of relevant risks. Factors such as the number of attendees, the location, the prominence of the venue, and the profile of speakers all shape the risk landscape. A small indoor gathering at a familiar site may present minimal challenges, while a large outdoor event featuring a controversial speaker at a high-traffic location could elevate the risk considerably. Organizers should weigh these elements systematically, ensuring that no single factor is overlooked, including modern vulnerabilities, such as cyber exposure through livestreams or social media, which can amplify risks far beyond the physical venue.

The Planning Cycle

Once the risk profile is established, planning moves into a more detailed phase. It is important to ask practical questions: Is the venue’s security infrastructure adequate? How will guest registration be managed, and will photo identification be required? Who will serve as the central point of contact for incidents, and how will threat scenarios be documented? These considerations extend beyond the event itself, encompassing pre-event preparations such as staff training and venue walkthroughs, as well as post-event debriefs to capture lessons learned. This cyclical approach ensures that each event contributes to a growing body of organizational knowledge and resilience.

Sourcing Security Contractors

Selecting the right security firm is another critical step. Contracts should clearly define expectations, and standard operating procedures must be formalized to ensure consistency. Verify licensing, insurance, and financial stability, while also seeking references from clients with similar event profiles. The operational model of the firm—whether relying on subcontractors or employed staff—should be scrutinized, as should the training and background of individual agents. Ultimately, the culture of the firm, reflected in its senior managers, will shape the quality of the partnership. If communication or flexibility falls short during the selection process, move on quickly to other candidates.

Deciding on Security Deployment

For events that demand professional security, organizers should develop and follow minimum selection and staffing requirements. Security personnel roles range from an onsite security executive who coordinates with venue operators, to officers managing entry control, vehicle access, and perimeter patrols, with an emphasis on cross-training so that every officer can adapt to multiple responsibilities. This flexibility is crucial in dynamic environments where incidents can escalate quickly and resources must be deployed efficiently.

Conclusion

Taken together, this framework provides a roadmap for hosting safe and secure events. By integrating risk assessment, detailed planning, careful vendor selection, and professional staffing nonprofits can create environments where communities feel welcome and protected. In doing so, they not only safeguard their mission but also reinforce trust among donors, participants, and the broader public.

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Nationwide/Garrett Park, MD, November 17, 2025 (DOJ, Office of Public Affairs): Clift Seferlis, 55, of Garrett Park, Maryland, entered a plea of guilty on 17 federal counts of mailing threatening communications and eight counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs, arising from numerous threats sent to Jewish organizations and entities. From at least March 2024 through at least June 2025, Seferlis used the United States mail to transmit at least 40 letters and at least two postcards to more than 25 Jewish organizations and entities located in multiple jurisdictions, including, but not limited to, synagogues, Jewish museums, Jewish community centers, Jewish schools, and Jewish non-profit organizations. In many of these letters and postcards, Seferlis threatened to destroy physical buildings and/or to injure individuals. His Jewish targets, primarily synagogues, were located in: Washington, DC; Philadelphia, PA; Fairfax, VA; Gaithersburg, MD; Hagerstown, MD; Rockville, MD; and Brookline, MA. Threats included the damage and destruction to the institutions physical structures and occupants with use of dangerous weapons, fire, or explosives. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/maryland-man-pleads-guilty-mailing-threatening-communications-jewish-institutions-and-civil)

Nationwide/Roseville, CA (near Sacramento), November 7, 2015 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California): Zimnako Salah, 46, of Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced today to six years in prison in connection with his plot targeting Christian churches. In March 2025, a jury in Sacramento convicted Salah of strapping a backpack around the toilet of a Christian church in Roseville, with the intent to convey a hoax bomb threat and to obstruct the free exercise of religion of the congregants who worshipped there. The jury’s verdict included a special finding that Salah targeted the church because of the religion of the people who worshipped there, making the offense a hate crime. Additionally, from September to November of 2023, Salah traveled to four Christian churches in Arizona, California, and Colorado, wearing black backpacks. At two of those churches, Salah planted those backpacks, placing congregants in fear that they contained bombs. He was also found to be building a bomb capable of fitting in a backpack. Further, records showed that Salah had searched for videos of “Infidels dying,” and he had watched videos depicting ISIS terrorists murdering people. In a cellphone video taken days before the crimes of conviction, Defendant Salah declared, “America. We are going to destroy it.” (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/arizona-man-sentenced-plot-targeting-christian-churches)

Nationwide/Dearborn, Michigan, November 5, 2025 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Michigan): In an ongoing criminal investigation, the FBI arrested a third defendant, Ayob Nasser, 19, of Dearborn, Michigan, in connection with an alleged ISIS terrorism case. Two other Dearborn men were previously arrested, Mohmed Ali and Majed Mahmoud. All three were charged in the amended complaint with conspiring to provide material support to ISIS—a radical Islamic terror group that has repeatedly killed Americans. All three are also charged with having firearms that would be used to commit an act of terrorism on behalf of ISIS. The amended criminal complaint includes details of a potential attack plan. Law enforcement searches resulted in the seizure of three AR-15 style rifles, two shotguns, four handguns, approximately 1,680 rounds of ammunition compatible with the three AR-15 style rifles, two GoPro cameras, a flash suppressor, six tactical vests/chest rigs, two tactical backpacks, and 44 rifle magazines. Two of the rifle magazines were found to be loaded, along with three loaded 9mm magazines. FBI agents also found and seized boxes of 9mm ammunition, ammunition cans, and shotgun slugs. Other firearm accessories seized included grips, stocks, trigger springs and components, weapon slings, tactical flashlights, multiple optics, including a magnified optic, and a pressure switch for tactical lasers/flashlights. The amended complaint references that the defendants traveled to scout potential attack target locations in Ferndale, Michigan, and in the Midwest. It also revealed that the three defendants communicated regarding potential attack targets and related information on a WhatsApp group chat they created in June 2025. In discussions between October 23 and October 24, 2025, Ali and Mahmoud posted videos from their trips to the gun range to their chat group. In an exchange someone referred to in the amended complaint as “Person 1” texted, “American Jewish Center,” suggesting a target. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/third-suspect-arrested-and-charged-along-two-current-defendants-conspiring-provide)

Hopkinsville, KY, November 4, 2025 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Kentucky): Marley R. Taylor, 27, of Hopkinsville, pleaded guilty yesterday to damaging religious property. According to court documents, on January 28 and 29, 2025, Taylor destroyed a statue of Mary holding baby Jesus located at a Catholic church by using an axe to chop off both statues’ heads. Taylor admitted that he intentionally decapitated the statue of Mary and Jesus because he believed people prayed to the statue as an act of worship. The statue had been hand carved from marble and imported from Italy. The U.S. Attorney’s Office press release indicated that Taylor intentionally and severely damaged two religious statues. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdky/pr/hopkinsville-man-pleads-guilty-federal-charge-damaging-church-statue)

National/New York, NY, October 31, 2025 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York): Donovan Hall, of Mesa, AZ, was sentenced to 49 months in prison for making interstate threats and the interstate stalking of Jewish victims in New York City. According to the Indictment, other public filings, and statements made in court: Over a period of three months, Hall contacted several individuals located in New York, making approximately 1,000 anti-Semitic and violent threats to torture, mutilate, rape, and murder them and their families. The targets of his threats are located throughout the U.S. During a search of Hall’s home two firearms—neither of which is registered in Halls’s name—were located alongside his wallet in his backpack. One of the firearms was loaded. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/arizona-man-sentenced-49-months-prison-sending-antisemitic-death-threats)

New York, NY, October 31, 2025 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York): Tarek Bazrouk was sentenced to 17 months in prison for committing hate crimes in connection with his repeated assaults of Jewish victims in New York City between 2024 and 2025. According to the Indictment, other public filings, and statements made in court, over the course of approximately nine months, Bazrouk physically assaulted three Jewish individuals at protests concerning the Israel/Hamas war. During these assaults, he reportedly wore a green headband typically worn by Hamas terrorists. He was arrested after lunging at a group of pro-Israel protestors and kicked a different individual, a Jewish college student—in the stomach while being escorted away by police. His victims were wearing kippahs, carrying Israeli flags, and singing Jewish songs. At another protest relating to the Israel/Hamas war next to Columbia University, Bazrouk stole an Israeli flag frm a Jewish participant and punched his brother in the face as he tried to recover the flag. At a third protest, Bazrouk, who was wearing a keffiyeh on his face, punched a third Jewish victim, who was wearing an Israeli flag around his shoulders, a hat with an Israeli flag, and a chain with a Jewish star, in his face. An authorized search of Bazrouk’s cell phones, revealed Bazrouk’s anti-Semitic bias and his support for anti-Jewish terrorist groups including Hamas and Hezballah. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/new-york-man-sentenced-17-months-prison-hate-crimes-after-repeatedly-assaulting-jewish)

Grand Blanc Township, MI, September 30, 2025 (FBI Detroit Field Office): On Sunday, September 28, 2025the FBI received reports of a possible active shooter at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Grand Blanc Township Police Department confirmed an active shooter, who was deceased, and reported multiple victims. Deceased: 5 (including the subject). Injured (not including deceased): 8. The subject suspected of committing the attack has been identified as Thomas Sanford, 40, of Burton, Michigan. In a follow up Video Update released on October 31, 2025, the FBI Detroit Field Office confirmed that the attack was a targeted act of violence believed to be motivated by the assailants’ anti-religious beliefs against the Mormon religious community. (Link: https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/detroit/news/fbi-detroit-update-on-shooting-and-fire-at-grand-blanc-lds-church)

Gorda, FL, September 25, 2025 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida): A Federal complaint and arrest warrant were issued charging Blake Richard Hoover (31, Punta Gorda) with arson, for, according to charging documents, setting an intentional fire at the area Chabad Jewish Center. The Center is a Hebrew school and a community synagogue. Investigators determined that the fire was an act of arson and that in addition to the fire damage, three areas were recently spray painted with the letter “J”. A witness provided evidence that indicated Hoover expressed an intent to burn down the Chabad Jewish Center and had a hatred towards Jewish people. A license plate reader captured Hoover’s motor vehicle in the area of the Chabad Jewish Center and investigators recovered gas and spray paint cans from Hoover’s residence. Hoover also implicated himself in statements to witnesses. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/punta-gorda-man-charged-arson-jewish-center)

New Caney, TX, September 19, 2025 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas): Austin Willard Tanton, 28, and Kayla Lynn Thompson, 31, have been charged with conspiracy to commit malicious use of explosive materials and using explosive materials in the commission of a felony, for firebombing the Huyen Trang Buddhist Meditation Center. According to the charges, on Nov. 5, 2023, Tanton allegedly threw a crude incendiary device, known as a Molotov cocktail, through a window of the temple, igniting a fire that damaged the building and property. Monks and the head nun were sleeping in the temple at the time of the attack. Video surveillance, which captured the attack, assisted the authorities in identifying Tanton as the suspect throwing the device and Thompson as the driver of a vehicle they used. The two allegedly conspired together, along with others, to carry out the attack on the Buddhist worship center. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/two-new-caney-individuals-charged-firebombing-buddhist-temple)  

Wiggins, MS, September 18, 2025 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): A federal jury in Gulfport, Mississippi, convicted Stefan Day Rowold on six counts of arson and civil rights charges for vandalizing and setting fire to a house of worship. On July 5, 2024, and July 7, 2024, Rowold vandalized and set fire to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Wiggins. Evidence at trial showed that Rowold targeted the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints because of his disagreement with what he believed to be their religious views. During a confession, Rowold admitted to breaking into the building, vandalizing the interior walls of the building with hateful messages, and ultimately setting a fire in the middle of the church’s multipurpose room so they could not hold services. Rowold used the church’s hymnals as kindling for his original fire. Rowold also broke into the church two days later to further his efforts, setting a second fire. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/mississippi-man-convicted-federal-civil-rights-and-arson-charges-setting-fire-church-jesus)

Nationwide, September 12, 2025 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Mexico): According to court documents, on or about September 11, 2025, Jace Allen, 19, used an account on X.com under the alias “Jebron Lames” to post a series of violent and racist threats following the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. Among the threats, Allen wrote that he planned to commit mass murder, targeting minorities and Jews, specifically, and shooting up unspecified locations. Allen admitted to making the posts, acknowledged being a Neo-Nazi who hates Jews and minorities, and said he wanted to help spark a civil war by terrorizing people online. A search of his phone revealed videos of him firing a rifle and handgun in August 2025. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/pr/new-mexico-teenager-charged-making-violent-online-threats)

Pittsburgh, PA, September 10, 2025 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Pennsylvania): Talya A. Lubit, 25, was sentenced in federal court to five years of probation (and restitution of nearly $11,000 for damages her actions caused to the property) for defacing and damaging a religious building. According to information presented to the Court, Lubit and her codefendant, Mohamad Hamad, conspired to damage and deface the Chabad of Squirrel Hill. The Chabad is a center for Jewish educational programming and occupies a building for Jewish religious services. Squirrel Hill is the same neighborhood where a white supremacist conducted the deadliest massacre against the Jewish community in US history in a 2018 terrorist attack against the Tree or Life Synagogue. uly 29, 2024, acting on their plan to cause damage to a Jewish institution, Lubit and Hamad spray-painted the words “Jews 4 Palestine” with an inverted triangle onto the exterior of the Chabad building with red paint. The inverted triangle first appeared in videos posted online by Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization, of the current fighting in Gaza, where the symbol was used to mark an Israeli target about to be attacked by Hamas fighters. The act of vandalism was born from Hamad’s and Lubit’s shared growing animosity towards Israel since the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, and the war that ensued between Israel and Hamas. Lubit’s restitution will also offset the costs of repair for her and her codefendant spray-painting hateful words and symbols on an entry sign to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh the same day. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/pittsburgh-woman-sentenced-vandalizing-jewish-properties)  

Nationwide, August 15, 2025 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Oklahoma): Landon Kyle Swinford, 20, of Blanchard, OK, has been sentenced 20 120 months in federal prison for sharing ISIS propaganda online and communicating threats to bomb synagogues, among other offenses. According to public records, on May 18, 2023, Swinford made contact with an undercover law enforcement officer (UC) after posting Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) propaganda on social media. Swinford communicated with the UC through October 22, 2023, during which time he expressed a desire to travel overseas to fight with ISIS. Swinford sent the UC a manifesto and an ISIS Bayat video in which he pledged his allegiance to ISIS and burned an Israeli flag. Additionally, on October 23, 2023, Swinford posted a public statement on Instagram that read “CAST FEAR INTO THE HEARTS OF THE KUFFAR THIS HALLOWEEN Dress up as your favorite mujahideen and bomb a synagogue.” At the sentencing hearing, the judge noted the seriousness of the offenses and that Swinford had specifically targeted Synagogues and people of the Jewish faith and expressed a willingness to fight for ISIS. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdok/pr/blanchard-man-who-shared-isis-propaganda-online-sentenced-serve-decade-federal-prison)  

Columbus, OH, August 15, 2025  (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs):  Timur Mamatov, 20, of Tipp City, Ohio, admitted to violating the Hate Crimes Prevention Act when he physically assaulted two Ohio State University students for their religion, causing bodily injury. According to court documents, on Nov. 10, 2023, Mamatov and a friend engaged in an altercation with five students outside of a bar on North High Street in Columbus. One student was wearing a “Chai” pendant around his neck – a piece of jewelry commonly associated with Judaism. Mamatov asked the students if they were Jewish, and when they answered that they were, Mamatov punched one victim, fracturing his jaw. A second victim was injured, suffering a fractured nose, as the fight poured over into the street. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-pleads-guilty-antisemitic-assault-near-college-campus)  

Albany, NY, August 12, 2025  (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of New York): Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, age 29, of Schenectady, New York, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison for conspiring to illegally straw purchase a firearm, obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs with a dangerous weapon, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. As part of his prior guilty plea, Alkhader admitted that, between November 1 and November 6, 2023, he and Andrew Miller agreed that Miller would purchase a shotgun for Alkhader by lying to a firearms dealer and falsely representing that Miller was the purchaser of the gun.  On November 5, 2023, Alkhader and Miller drove to a federal firearms dealer in Albany and illegally purchased a Kel-Tec KS7 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. On December 7, 2023, Alkhader took an Uber from his home to Temple Israel, a synagogue in Albany. Upon arriving at the synagogue, at approximately 2 p.m., Alkhader walked up the walkway toward the front entrance, brandished the Kel-Tec shotgun, and then twice fired the shotgun into the air while shouting “Free Palestine!” Alkhader attempted to fire a third time, but the shotgun jammed.  After the shotgun jammed, Alkhader attempted to tear an Israeli flag from a flagpole in front of Temple Israel. As a result of Alkhader’s actions, Temple Israel was forced to cancel a planned concert and candle lighting ceremony to celebrate Chanukah that evening, and its congregants were afraid to return to their place of worship. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndny/pr/schenectady-man-sentenced-10-years-prison-firearm-and-religious-hate-crimes-involving)  

New York, NY, July 23, 2025 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York): Domagoj Patkovic was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment for conspiring to make hoax bomb threat phone calls to historically Jewish hospitals and care centers in New York City and on Long Island. Beginning at least as early as May 2021, the defendant and others made anonymous phone calls in which they made violent threats, including threats to detonate explosive devices, to Jewish hospitals and care centers within the Eastern District of New York, among other targets throughout the United States. The defendant himself made threats in at least six separate calls to hospitals and also on a call with local law enforcement who had responded to a 911 call from one of the hospitals.  To amplify his hate-filled actions, the defendant livestreamed the calls to others on an online social media and electronic communications platform.  On several occasions, local police responded to the scene and conducted bomb sweeps.  On at least one occasion in September 2021, the hoax bomb threat resulted in a partial evacuation and lockdown of an entire hospital on Long Island. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/oregon-man-sentenced-60-months-swatting-and-bomb-threats-scheme-targeted-jewish)  

Washington, DC, July 21, 2025 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): Kevin Brent Buchanan, from Utah, pleaded guilty to threatening violence against the employees of a D.C.-based Palestinian rights organization. According to publicly filed court documents, between Oct. 31, 2023, and Nov. 2, 2023, Buchanan used his cellular phone to call and leave five messages for members of the organization. In his Nov. 2 voice message, Buchanan stated in part: “Your families are going to be followed and watched.”; “You don’t even belong in America.”; “I hope every Muslim in the United States [expletive] croaks.”; “You are all going to [expletive] die, you pieces of [expletive] traitors.” Buchanan admitted that he intentionally targeted the organization because its staff and members are Palestinian, and because the organization advocates on behalf of Palestinians. Sentencing hearing to follow. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/utah-man-convicted-threatening-palestinian-rights-organization)

Boulder, CO, June 25, 2025 (US Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado): Mohamed Sabry Soliman was charged with 12 hate crimes for using Molotov cocktails to attack members of the group “Run for Their Lives” and others who had gathered in the park in front of the Boulder County Courthouse on June 1. According to the indictment, on June 1, Soliman entered the park carrying both a backpack weed sprayer that contained a flammable liquid and a black plastic container that held at least 18 glass bottles and jars, all of which contained a flammable liquid and several of which had red rags stuffed through the top to act as wicks (commonly referred to as Molotov cocktails). He is alleged to have then approached the group and threw two Molotov cocktails that he had ignited. When throwing one of the Molotov cocktails, he shouted, “Free Palestine!” A handwritten document was later recovered from the vehicle driven by Soliman. The document included statements of Soliman’s hatred of Zionism and Israel, which must be liberated. Allegedly he told law enforcement he “decide[d] to take [his] revenge on the group,” which he identified in Internet searches as Zionist and sought them out at their regularly scheduled event. On June 30th, it was widely reported that the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office announced that 82-year-old Karen Diamond, who was injured in the firebombing attack, died as a result of her severe injuries. (Links: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/alleged-perpetrator-terror-attack-colorado-charged-hate-crimes; https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/82-year-old-woman-dies-colorado-attack-israeli-hostage-advocates-rcna216052)

Haymarket, VA, June 18, 2025 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): Rui Jiang, 36, of Fairfax, VA, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, for posting online threats against the Park Valley Church in September 2023, which made clear his intention to kill congregants. Soon after, police located Jiang at the church while Sunday services were underway. Jiang was armed with a semiautomatic handgun, two magazines of ammunition, and two knives. He had additional ammunition, knives, and a canister of bear spray in his nearby car. The shooting was thwarted. Just, because of the awareness Chrich members. (Link:  https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/virginia-man-sentenced-attempted-church-shooting)

Philadelphia, PA, June 17, 2025 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania): Clift A. Seferlis, 55, of Garrett Park, Maryland, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with mailing threatening communications. Allegedly, from at least March 1, 2024, through the present, the defendant is alleged to have sent numerous written threats through the mail to Jewish organizations and entities located in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Many of these letters threaten the Jewish institutions and contain references to Gaza, Israel, or events in which Jewish people were killed or otherwise attacked. The letters then suggest that the recipients might become victims of similar acts of violence. One of these communications came from a typewritten letter, postmarked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 7, 2025. The envelope was addressed to Victim Jewish Institution 1, to the attention of a person with the initials J.G., an employee of Victim Jewish Institution 1 at the time. This Victim Jewish Institution 1 received numerous additional messages since April 1, 2024, which contained a threat to physically destroy the institution. Prior to the receipt of the May 7, 2025, mailing, Victim Jewish Institution 1 and its employees had received very similar-looking letters, believed to have been sent by Seferlis, which referenced Victim Jewish Institution 1’s “many big open windows,” “Kristallnacht,” “anger and rage,” and a future need to “rebuild” the institution following its destruction. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edpa/pr/maryland-man-charged-mailing-threatening-communications-jewish-organizations-including)

New York, NY, June 10, 2025 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was extradited to the United States, in connection with an indictment charging Khan with attempting to enter the United States from Canada to commit a mass shooting attack using automatic weapons on a Jewish community center in Brooklyn, New York City, in support of ISIS and around the one-year anniversary of the attack on Gaza by Hamas, according to FBI and NY law enforcement officials. In support of his choice of New York City as his target location, Khan allegedly boasted that “New york is perfect to target jews” because it has the “largest Jewish population In america” and therefore, “even if we dont attack a[n] Event[,] we could rack up easily a lot of jews.” Khan proclaimed that “we are going to nyc to slaughter them,” and possessed a photograph of the specific area where he planned to carry out the attack. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/pakistani-national-extradited-face-charges-connection-plot-carry-out-isis-inspired-mass)

New Jersey, June 3, 2025 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): Bhushan Athale, 49, of Dallas, TX, as sentenced to 26 months in prison for a federal hate crime and for making violent interstate threats against various individuals based on their religion, including the employees of a Sikh nonprofit organization located in New Jersey. He previously pleaded guilty to making calls on Sept. 17, 2022, to the main number of an organization that advocates for the civil rights of Sikh individuals within the United States, leaving numerous messages over several hours threatening to injure or kill these individuals with a razor and other very specific acts of violence. He again called the organization on March 21, 2024, and left two more voicemails, using violent, sexual imagery to express his hatred toward Sikhs as well as Muslims. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-sentenced-26-months-prison-making-threats-violence-against-employees-sikh)

Boulder, CO, June 2, 2025 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado): Mohammed Sabry Soliman, age 45, of Colorado Springs, has been charged with one count of a hate crime involving actual or perceived race, religion, or national origin. The charges stem from Soliman allegedly throwing two lit Molotov cocktails at individuals participating in a gathering near the Boulder Courthouse of members of “Run for Their Lives,” which organizes weekly walks to call attention to the Israeli hostages in Gaza.  When he threw the Molotov cocktails, Soliman yelled “Free Palestine!”  The Molotov cocktails ignited in the crowd of people, causing burn injuries to eight individuals. It was reported that at least fourteen unlit Molotov cocktails and a backpack weed sprayer, potentially containing a flammable substance, were found nearby.  A car registered to Soliman, parked a block away, contained a red gas container, red material consistent with rags used in the Molotov cocktails, and paperwork with the words, “Israel,” “Palestine,” and “USAID.” The criminal complaints against Soliman alleges that, during an interview with local and federal law enforcement, Soliman stated that he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead.  He stated that he would do it (conduct an attack) again.  Throughout the interview, Soliman stated that he hated the “Zionist group” and did this because he needed to stop them from taking over “our land,” i.e., Palestine.  He stated that he had been planning the attack for a year. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/egyptian-national-charged-hate-crime-attack-boulder-gathering)

Nationwide, June 2, 2025 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): Thomasz Szabo, also known as Plank, Jonah, and Cypher, 26, of Romania, pleaded guilty to being the leader of a years-long conspiracy that targeted victims across the United States with “swatting” and bomb threats, including falsely reporting ongoing violent emergencies at houses of worship. According to court documents, Szabo was the founder and leader of an online community that, starting in late 2020, engaged in false reporting to U.S. law enforcement including a threat in December 2020 to commit a mass-shooting at New York City synagogues. Szabo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and one count of threats involving explosives, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Szabo was extradited from Romania in November 2024.(Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/romanian-citizen-pleads-guilty-swatting-numerous-members-congress-churches-and-former-us)

Boulder, CO, June 2, 2025 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs; FBI Denver): The Justice Department has filed federal hate crimes charges against Mohammed Sabry Soliman, of Colorado Springs, for allegedly perpetrating a heinous anti-Semitic terrorist attack at individuals standing vigil for the Israeli hostages of Hamas. Additional state charges have been made for attempted murder. According to the criminal complaint, on June 1, 2025, Soliman threw two lit glass bottle Molotov cocktails at individuals participating in a pro-Israel gathering near the Boulder Courthouse, while yelling “Free Palestine!” The Molotov cocktails ignited in the crowd of people, causing burn injuries to eight individuals. When he was arrested, he had with him a black plastic container with at least fourteen unlit Molotov cocktails. Near the black plastic container was a backpack weed sprayer (makeshift flame thrower). The clear liquid in the glass bottles and weed sprayer were determined to be gasoline. During his arrest interview, he stated that he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead, and he would do it (conduct an attack) again. He specifically targeted the “Zionist Group” that had gathered in Boulder having learned about the group from an online search. He stated that he had been planning the attack for a year. (Links: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-federal-charges-against-alleged-perpetrator-anti-semitic-terror; and https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/denver/news/fbi-denver-statement-on-attack-at-pearl-street-mall-in-boulder?utm_campaign=email-Immediate&utm_medium=email&utm_source=fbi-in-the-news&utm_content=%5B2033183%5D-%2Fcontact-us%2Ffield-offices%2Fdenver%2Fnews%2Ffbi-denver-statement-on-attack-at-pearl-street-mall-in-boulder)

Nationwide, May 29, 2025 (The Jerusalem Post): A week after the attack on young Jewish professionals at the Capital Jewish Museum, it is reported that multiple groups are rallying behind the shooter saying the murder of two young Israeli Embassy employees attending the event was justifiable violence, saying he should be freed. It is further reported that this campaign is sponsored by nearly 30 “pro-Palestine or Marxist groups,” who stated in a letter under their signature that “The time has now come for real consequences; they have left no other option.” It is reported to further state, “Elias Rodriguez exacted a consequence, a mere drop in the bucket of consequences due to the zionist movement and its military garrison of a state,” it continued. “May it redound to teach a lesson and set an example.” (Link: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-855947).

Bloomfield Hills, MI, May 28, 2025 (JTA; U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Michigan): Hassan Chokr, a man who threatened preschoolers, parents, and other individuals outside a Jewish synagogue in Bloomfield Hills, on December 2, 2022, pleaded guilty to the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the Department of Justice. In December 2022, Hassan drove through the parking lot of Temple Beth El in the Detroit suburb as parents walked their preschoolers into the building, and yelled a series of antisemitic threats at them, according to federal prosecutors. After he was asked to leave, Chokr — who had a prior felony conviction for a different offense in 2017 — went to a gun store in Dearborn where he attempted to purchase three guns: a shotgun, a rifle and a semi-automatic pistol. He lied about his criminal record, according to prosecutors. While waiting for his background check, Chokr said that he would “even the score” and use the guns for “God’s wrath,” according to prosecutors. He was denied the purchase following the results of the background check and was charged for possessing multiple firearms within the store during the attempted transaction. His actions indicated that her planned to carry out his threats against the synagogue and its patrons. (Links: https://www.jta.org/2025/05/28/united-states/michigan-man-who-threatened-parents-and-preschoolers-at-a-synagogue-pleads-guilty-to-weapons-offense?utm_source=JTA_Iterable&utm_campaign=JTA_DB&utm_medium=email; and https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/hassan-chokr-charged-lying-federal-firearms-form-when-seeking-buy-three-firearms)

New York City, NY, May 23, 2025 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): The leader of an international white supremacist group, Georgian national Michail Chkhikvishvili, was extradited to the United States and was arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn for the crimes of soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence in New York City, for recruiting people to commit violent acts targeting the Jewish community, including engaging in the mass killing of children and others in these communities using poison, suicide bombs, firearms, arson fires, and vehicle explosions. It is alleged that Chkhikvishvili’s solicitations of violence have previously resulted in multiple attacks and killings around the world. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/georgian-national-extradited-moldova-face-charges-soliciting-hate-crimes-and-planning-mass)

Washington, DC May 22, 2025 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia): Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, has been charged with federal and local murder offenses in connection with the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staff members outside the Jewish National Museum in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2025. According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Rodriguez allegedly opened fire on the victims as they were leaving an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, which brought together Jewish professionals and members of the diplomatic community. Both victims were employed by the Israeli Embassy. One was an Israeli citizen and an official guest of the U.S. government. Surveillance footage reportedly shows Rodriguez walking past the victims before turning and firing multiple rounds. After the victims fell, he allegedly continued firing at close range, including as one attempted to crawl away. Investigators recovered a 9mm handgun and 21 spent shell casings at the scene. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/federal-charges-filed-after-deadly-shooting-israeli-diplomats-dc)

Washington, DC, May 22, 2025 (ADL): According to the ADL Center on Extremism, Elias Rodriguez, the shooter at the Capital Jewish Museum, is connected to a manifesto posted on the social media site X under the heading “Escalate For Gaza, Bring The War Home,” which ADL states are slogans commonly used by anti-Israel activists, particularly in more extreme, militant spaces. The manifesto concludes that now, in 2025, armed action seems like “the only sane thing to do, ” and is signed off with: “Free Palestine, Elias Rodriguez.” Other ADL analysis on the shooters background indicates that he has been a participant in anti-Israel protests in Chicago following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel and was previously affiliated with two prominent anti-Israel organizations, ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and participated in multiple ANSWER and PSL protests in Chicago from late 2017 through early 2018. (Link: https://www.adl.org/resources/article/latest-attack-jewish-community-suspect-museum-shooting-posted-manifesto-calling?utm_campaign=asbrief2025&utm_medium=email&utm_source=whole&utm_content=e20250522)

Cape Girardeau, MO, May 21, 2025 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): In December 2024, Christopher Scott Pritchard, 49, pleaded guilty to one count of arson and one count of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act for burning down a house of worship owned and used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS). He was also found with a backpack containing a laptop computer, a projector, speakers and 21 apples that he’d stolen from the church. The fire destroyed the building and prevented the congregants in the free exercise of their religious beliefs. He  was sentenced yesterday to 111 months in prison. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/missouri-man-sentenced-over-nine-years-prison-church-arson)

Pittsburgh, PA, May 15, 2025 (US Attorney’s Office, Western District of Pennsylvania): Talya A. Lubit, age 24, to charges of conspiracy and defacing and damaging a religious building. Lubit nd  her codefendant, Mohamad Hamad, conspired from July 2024 to July 29, 2024, to damage and deface the Chabad of Squirrel Hill. The Chabad is a center for Jewish educational programming and occupies a building for Jewish religious services in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. In the early morning hours of July 29, 2024, acting on their plan to cause damage to a Jewish institution, Lubit and Hamad spray-painted the words “Jews 4 Palestine” with an inverted triangle onto the exterior of the building with red paint. The inverted triangle first appeared in videos posted online by Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization, of the current fighting in Gaza where it was used to mark an Israeli target about to be attacked by Hamas fighters. The act of vandalism was born from Hamad’s and Lubit’s shared growing animosity towards Israel since the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, and the war that ensued between Israel and Hamas. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/pittsburgh-resident-pleads-guilty-conspiracy-and-defacing-religious-property-vandalism)

New Market, TN, May 8, 2025 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs) A Federal grand jury in Knoxville, Tennessee returned an indictment on May 7, charging Regan Darby Prater, 27, with arson for firebombing the Highlander Center, a nonprofit research and education center in New Market, Tennessee, and with carrying an explosive device during the commission of the arson. According to the Department of Justice and news reporting Prater, a white supremacist, was inspired by the March 15, 2019, mass shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, and left a fascist symbol of the Iron Guard, a World War II-era Romanian Nazi organization, spraypainted in the Highlander Center’s parking lot. The same symbol appeared on the Christchurch gunman’s rifle as he livestreamed his attacks. The Highlander Center supports social justice and is connected with Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. The arson attack caused more than $1 million in damage and destroyed decades of historic documents, speeches and other artifacts, including those important to the civil rights movement, according to the center, which was founded in 1932. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/tennessee-man-indicted-arson-and-explosive-charges-setting-fire-nonprofit-organization)

Nationwide, April 10, 2025 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): The United States extradited convicted terrorist Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian citizen and native of Pakistan, to stand trial in India on 10 criminal charges stemming from his alleged role in the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Rana, 64, is charged in India with numerous offenses, including conspiracy, murder, commission of a terrorist act, and forgery, related to his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks committed by Laskhar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), a designated foreign terrorist organization. India alleges that Rana facilitated a fraudulent cover so that his childhood friend David Coleman Headley, a U.S. citizen, residing in Chicago, IL, and born Daood Gilani, could freely travel to Mumbai for the purpose of conducting surveillance of potential attack sites for LeT. [Headley chose among the targets the Chabad House Jewish center in Mumbai, where several Jews (The six Americans killed during the three-day siege are identified in the charges as Ben Zion Chroman, Gavriel Holtzberg, Sandeep Jeswani, Alan Scherr, his daughter Naomi Scherr and Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum) were tortured before being executed, including Americans.] Over the course of more than two years, Headley allegedly repeatedly met with Rana in Chicago and described his surveillance activities. In 2013, Headley pleaded guilty to 12 federal terrorism charges, including aiding and abetting the murders of the six Americans in Mumbai. Also in 2013, Rana was sentenced to 14 years in prison following his trial conviction in the Northern District of Illinois for conspiring to provide material support to LeT. (Links: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-extradites-alleged-co-conspirator-2008-mumbai-terrorist-attacks-face-charges-india; and  https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/david-coleman-headley-sentenced-35-years-prison-role-india-and-denmark-terror-plots)

Roseville, CA, April 4, 2025 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): Zimnako Salah, 45, of Phoenix, AZ, was convicted for strapping a backpack around the toilet of a Christian church in Roseville, with the intent to convey a hoax bomb threat and to obstruct the free exercise of religion of the congregants who worshipped there. Th verdict included a special finding Salah targeted the church because of the religion of the people who worshipped there, making the offense a hate crime. According to evidence presented at trial, from September to November of 2023, Salah traveled to four Christian churches in Arizona, California, and Colorado, wearing black backpacks. At two of those churches, Salah planted those backpacks, placing congregants in fear that they contained bombs. At the other two churches, Salah was confronted by security before he got the chance to plant those backpacks. He also had been building a bomb capable of fitting in a backpack. During a search of his storage unit, an FBI Bomb Technician seized items that an FBI Bomb Expert testified at trial served as component parts of an improvised explosive device (IED). A search of Salah’s social media records revealed that he had consumed extremist propaganda online. Specifically, those records showed that Salah had searched for videos of “Infidels dying,” and he had watched videos depicting ISIS terrorists murdering people. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/arizona-man-convicted-crimes-arising-out-plot-targeting-christian-churches)

Wiggins, Mississippi, March 19, 2025 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): Stefan Day, also known as Stefan Pete Day Rowold, was indicted on 6 counts for arson and violating federal civil rights for vandalizing and setting fire to a house of worship. According to the superseding indictment, on July 5, 2024, and July 7, 2024, Day set fire to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Wiggins, damaging, defacing, and destroying religious real property. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/mississippi-man-indicted-federal-civil-rights-and-arson-charges-setting-fire-mormon-church)

Haymarket, VA, March 6, 2025 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): A federal jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts for Rui Jiang, of Falls Church, VA, posting online threats against the church on the evening of Sept. 23, 2023, which made clear his intention to kill congregants. Police officers located Jiang inside the front entrance to the church while Sunday services were underway and found that he was armed with a semiautomatic handgun and two full magazines of ammunition. He had an additional 34 rounds of ammunition in his nearby car. Searching his home, police also discovered five copies of a letter, each signed by Jiang in ink, which read in part, “To the families of those men about to be slain – I am sorry for what I have done and about to do (sic).” (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/virginia-man-convicted-hate-crime-attempted-church-shooting)

Albany, NY, February 4, 2025 (DoJ/Office of Public Affairs): Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, 29, of Schenectady, NY, pleaded guilty obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by threat of force, brandishing a firearm during the commission of this offense, and conspiring to purchase a firearm unlawfully. He targeted Temple Israel of Albany, NY. On the afternoon of Dec. 7, 2023, Alkhader took an Uber from his home to the synagogue. Upon arriving, he walked up the front steps of the synagogue, removed a shotgun from a duffel bag he had been carrying, and discharged two rounds into the air, shouting, “Free Palestine!” Still holding the shotgun, he then attempted to remove an Israeli flag from a flagpole outside of the synagogue before walking away. He was apprehended shortly after by Albany Police Department officers. Alkhader’s threatening actions forced the daycare operating inside of Temple Israel at the time of his actions to go into lockdown. Alkhader also significantly disrupted activities that the Temple Israel community had planned to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah and made congregants afraid to return to their place of worship. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-york-man-pleads-guilty-hate-crime-threatening-jewish-synagogue-albany).

Nationwide, January 31, 2025 (DoJ/Office of Public Affairs): Bushan Athale, 49, from Dallas, TX, admitted to a hate crime and making interstate threats of using a dangerous weapon against the employees of a Sikh nonprofit organization. According to court documents and statements made in court, on or about Sept. 17, 2022, Athale called the main number of an organization that advocates for the civil rights of Sikh individuals within the United States. Over the course of the next hour, Athale left seven voicemails expressing hatred toward Sikh individuals working at this same organization and threatening to injure or kill these individuals with a razor. Athale’s voicemails, which were filled with violent imagery and obscenity, contained references to places, people, and tenets that are particularly significant within the Sikh religion. On March 21, 2024, Athale again called the same Sikh organization and left two more voicemails. In these voicemails, Athale again used violent, sexual imagery to express his hatred toward Sikhs as well as Muslims and spouted antisemitic rhetoric. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-admits-making-violent-threats-against-sikh-nonprofit-organization)

Beverely, MA, January 7, 2025 (7 News Boston): Matthew Scouras, 34, of Beverly, was arrested and arraigned on numerous firearm charges and threats to destroy a place of worship. According to information provided by the FBI, an individual at Scouras’ address on Essex Street “posted threats to rape Jewish women and encouraged other users of the site to shoot people outside of synagogues.” A search of the home turned up a Nazi flag, a 9mm Glock “ghost gun” with no serial number, six boxes of ammunition, three large-capacity rifle magazines, 11 lower receivers for various rifles, other firearm parts, scopes, pistol frames, a jig used for drilling holes into polymer pistol handles, rifle stocks, and more than $70,000 in cash,” police said. Many of the items in his possession were illegally possessed. (Link: https://whdh.com/news/beverly-man-arrested-after-fbi-tip-of-online-anti-semitic-posts-search-finds-illegally-owned-guns-and-ammunition-nazi-flag/)

New York, NY, January 6, 2025 (NY Jewish Week): Jews were the target of the majority of hate crimes in New York City last year, according to statistics reported Monday by the NYPD. Data compiled by the department showed that there were 345 anti-Jewish hate crimes across the city in 2024, nearly 54% of the 641 total hate crimes tallied. The number of antisemitic hate crimes in 2024 was larger than in 2023, and occurred even as the overall total number of hate crimes in the city decreased slightly from 2023 to 2024. (Link: https://www.jta.org/2025/01/06/ny/jews-were-targeted-by-the-majority-of-hate-crimes-in-nyc-last-year-nypd-says).

Cape Girardeau, MO, December 19, 2024 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): Christopher Scott Pritchard, 48, pleaded guilty to setting fire to and burning down the Church of Latter-Day Saints, a house of worship that served as a meeting place for LDS community members in Cape Girardeau. The fire he set caused a complete structural loss and obstructed the church’s congregants in the free exercise of their religious beliefs. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/missouri-man-pleads-guilty-federal-civil-rights-and-arson-charges-setting-fire-mormon-church)

Minneapolis, MN, December 16, 2024 (KARE 11 NBC): Two swastikas were spray-painted at the entrance to Temple Israel. Minneapolis Police said a suspect can be seen on surveillance video spray-painting swastikas on the door and a pillar. “Hate crimes and crimes against our houses of worship are particularly troubling because they can result in real widespread fear,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in a statement. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who attends Temple Israel, said he supports MPD in its efforts to find those “responsible for this hateful act.” “These Nazi symbols were placed on my synagogue, where Minneapolis Jews congregate and deserve to feel safe,” Frey said in a statement. (Link: https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/minneapolis-synagogue-swastikas-vandalism/89-263a319f-b6ba-4e56-a4ba-a367d00ddce2)

Maltby, WA, December 12, 2024 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington): Natasha Marie Odell was indicted this week by a federal grand jury for three felonies related to the arson at Seattle Laestadian Lutheran Church in Snohomish County. Odell is reportedly caught on the church’s security system video surveillance moving around the church with a container usually used to transport gasoline. In the video the person empties the container on the exterior walls of the church and items around the church. Fire is seen growing on the areas where the person poured gasoline. The fire did more than $2.5 million in damage to the church. Odell is charged with Damage to Religious Property, Obstruction of Persons in the Free Exercise of Religious Beliefs, and Use of Fire to commit another Felony Offense. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/texas-woman-indicted-arson-destroyed-snohomish-county-washington-church)

Pittsburgh, PA, December 9, 2024 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Pennsylvania): Jack Danaher Molloy, 24, a dual citizen of the United States and Ireland, traveled to Lebanon in August 2024 with a desire to join Hizballah, a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). Authorities allege that Molloy supported and idolized violence and wanted to kill Jews, as evidenced by multiple images and videos on his electronic devices and the names he chose as his monikers for his social media and email accounts. Returning to the Pittsburgh suburb of Upper St. Clair, it is further alleged that Molloy continued to engage in conduct consistent with his desire to join Hizballah. Molloy has been charged by Criminal Complaint in Pittsburgh with making a false statement or representation involving international terrorism to a department or agency of the United States. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/upper-st-clair-resident-charged-lying-fbi-regarding-involvement-hizballah)

Roseville, MI, December 3, 2024 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Michigan): David Bluer, 34, pleaded guilty today to defacing a predominantly Black church, in October 2022. He spray-painted several swastikas, the word “die,” and other graffiti on the church. Bluer admitted that he intentionally defaced the church because the church serves a predominantly Black congregation and has a Black pastor, in what Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division described as a hate-fueled violent hate crime. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/warren-man-pleads-guilty-hate-crime-offense-defacing-predominantly-black-church)

Chicago, IL, December 2/October 31, 2024 (CNN/Times of Israel): Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, committed suicide while in custody after being charged with one felony count of terrorism and one felony count of a hate crime after authorities say he shot a Jewish man who was walking to a synagogue and then fired at responding officers during a shootout. Abdallahi was accused of firing several shots at a 39-year-old man on the Jewish Sabbath on the city’s North Side before firing “at responding officers and paramedics multiple times from various locations,” police say. Detectives looked through digital evidence to establish a case, including evidence from his phone that indicated he was targeting people of Jewish faith. More specifically, Abdallahi mapped the locations of several Chicago synagogues and Jewish schools in the days leading up to the October 26th attack. (Links: https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/31/us/chicago-jewish-man-shooting-hate-crime-terrorism-charges/index.html; https://www.timesofisrael.com/man-facing-terror-charges-for-shooting-us-jew-on-way-to-synagogue-dies-in-apparent-suicide/)

Texas, November 29, 2024 (KVUE abc): A new report found that incidents of antisemitism and hatred toward Jewish people in Texas nearly doubled between 2022 and 2023 and have remained at elevated levels for the first several months of this year. The data is from the 2024 Study on Antisemitism in Texas, put together by the Texas Holocaust, Genocide, and Antisemitism Advisory Commission. The commission said those trends and the steep rise in antisemitism since the Hamas attack on Israel have continued. (Link: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/new-report-antisemitic-incidents-texas-nearly-doubled-2022-2023-israel-gaza-hate/269-05459904-58dd-4eae-af73-6bfbfbd535b4)

Philadelphia, PA, November 26, 2024 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania): Donavon Parish, 29, of Hattiesburg, MS, was sentenced o 24 months in prison for cyberstalking and the antisemitic harassment of synagogues in the Eastern District of PA. The defendant used a Voice Over Internet Protocol service to make a series of phone calls in April and May 2022 to synagogues, where he made references to the genocide of approximately six million Jewish people during the Holocaust, stating, among other things, “Heil Hitler,” “all Jews must die,” “we will put you in work camps,” “gas the Jews,” and “Hitler should have finished the job.” He admitted to a special finding that he targeted his victims based on their actual and perceived religion. According to the US Attorney, his “threats terrorized those he targeted — their sense of security abruptly shaken by fears of escalation and physical harm.” (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edpa/pr/mississippi-man-sentenced-two-years-prison-cyberstalking-and-antisemitic-harassment)

Boston, MA, November 25, 2024 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): John Reardon, 59, of Millis, pleaded guilty to threatening to kill members of the Jewish community including Jewish children and bomb Jewish synagogues in Attleboro and Sharon, MA. Reardon had called the Israeli Consulate in Boston 98 times between Oct. 7, 2023, and Jan. 29. In many of those calls, Reardon also made statements intended to harass or intimidate. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/massachusetts-man-pleads-guilty-threatening-kill-members-jewish-community-and-bomb-places)

Boston, MA, November 18, 2024 (DoJ, U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts): Alexander Giannakakis, 37, formerly of Quincy, Mass., pleaded guilty to obstructing justice about hate crimes directed at Jewish people living in greater Boston. In and around February 2020, Giannakakis’ younger brother became the prime suspect in an investigation into four fires set at Jewish-related institutions in the Boston area: the first during the evening of May 11, 2019 at a Chabad Center in Arlington; the second at the same location during the evening of May 16, 2019; the third at a Chabad Center in Needham; and the fourth during the evening of May 26, 2019, at a Jewish-affiliated business in Chelsea. Giannakakis’ brother was identified as a suspect. According to court documents, when Giannakakis was questioned by investigators, he made false and misleading statements and later concealed and destroyed physical evidence being sought by investigators that implicated his brother in the arsons. He then fled the United States for Sweden until his arrest by Swedish authorities in February 2022. For helping to facilitate these acts of antisemitism, Giannakakis  could receive a sentence of up to 20 years in prison (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/massachusetts-man-pleads-guilty-obstructing-federal-hate-crime-investigation)

Houston, TX, November 14, 2024 (FOX News/US Attorney’s Office, Houston, TX): 28-year-old Anas Said is in FBI custody after authorities say he attempted to support ISIS and planned a terrorist attack on American soil. Authorities said Said was searching for ways to commit violent acts on behalf of the Islamic State in the Houston area. He has been charged with attempting to provide material support to the terrorist group. According to the Government’s Memorandum in Support of Detention, on November 8, 2024, FBI agents executed the arrest warrant for the Defendant. After being Mirandized and agreeing to speak with agents, Said “discussed researching an unnamed Jewish organization in  

 Houston that supported Israel. He explained to agents that he intended to post a flyer on the door to deter its support of Israel. If the flyer was unsuccessful, he planned to impersonate a donor to meet the head of the organization in order to convince the organization to stop funding Israel. If the head of the organization refused, then the Defendant would assault him/her. The Defendant also discussed researching Jewish related locations, such as synagogues and the Israeli Consulate in Houston, to get an understanding of the location, physical layout, and the security measures in place at these locations.” According to the Detention Memorandum, FBI’s examination of his devices recovered messages dated January 28, 2024, that included details of an attack on a Christian Church in Istanbul during Sunday religious services that resulted in the death of one parishioner and the wounding of another. The message “explained that the attack came in response to the call of Islamic State leaders to target Jews and Christians everywhere.” (Link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-arrests-houston-man-alleged-isis-ties-terror-plot-us-soil)  

Nationwide, November 14, 2024, (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs/Orlando.com (January 31, 2024) ): Alan W. Filion, 18, of Lancaster, California, pleaded guilty to making hundreds of ‘Swatting’ calls across the United States, including targeting religious institutions and colleges. From approximately August 2022 to January 2024, Filion made more than 375 swatting and threat calls, including calls in which he claimed to have planted bombs in the targeted locations or threatened to detonate bombs and/or conduct mass shootings at those locations. In a May 2023 incident, he made a threat to a religious institution in Sanford, FL, where he “claimed to have an illegally modified AR-15, a Glock 17 pistol, pipe bombs, and Molotov cocktails. He said that he was going to imminently “commit a mass shooting” and “kill everyone” he saw.”  The target was the Masjid Al Hayy Mosque in in Seminole County. Deputies said that the investigation began in May 2023 after police received a call from a male who said he was going to conduct a mass shooting at the mosque. In a release, investigators said the caller “made references to Satanism,” claiming that he had a handgun and “explosive devices.” In addition, the caller began playing audio of gunfire in the background, deputies explained. “I just finished reading the Devil’s Quran. I’m going to (unintelligible) and commit a mass shooting at 786 Myrtle Street in Sanford,” the caller can be heard saying in the 911 call. “It is a false mosque that prays to the Demiurge Saturn.” s a result, around 30 law enforcement officers responded to the mosque, though no shooter was found. Filion is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 11, 2025. (Links: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/california-teenager-pleads-guilty-florida-making-hundreds-swatting-calls-across-united; https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2024/01/31/california-teen-arrested-after-swatting-incident-at-sanford-mosque/)

Eugene, OR, November 13, 2024 (KVAL CBS 13/DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): Adam Edward Braun, 34, pleaded guilty to two counts of intentionally defacing a synagogue and one count of attempting to deface religious property because it was a place of religious worship for Jewish people, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon. According to court documents, between September 2023 and January 2024, Braun intentionally defaced Temple Beth Israel, by repeatedly targeting the synagogue with graffiti, some of which used antisemitic symbols and phrases. On January 14, 2024,Braub was caught on video surveillance preparing to swing a hammer at the glass doors of the synagogue, stopping when he saw he was being recorded and then moving to a different area of the property and used spray paint to write “White Power” in large letters on the building’s exterior. A police search of Braun’s home found pieces of evidence connecting Braun to the attacks on Temple Beth Israel, along with several items and writings belonging to Braun that were consistent with antisemitic beliefs and biases. (Links:  https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/oregon-man-pleads-guilty-three-federal-hate-crimes-defacing-synagogue; https://www.kval.com/news/local/eugene-man-pleads-guilty-to-three-federal-hate-crimes-for-defacing-synagogue)

Rochester, NY, November 13, 2024 (NBC News): Several Jewish faculty members at the University of Rochester were targeted by antisemitic vandalism that depicted them in hundreds of “wanted” posters plastered around the school. The posters target certain university staff members and professors for alleged war crimes related to the conflict in Gaza, NBC affiliate WHEC of Rochester reported. Targeted personnel included Joy Getnick, with the university’s Hillel organization. Getnick told the station that the posters “spread harmful antisemitic ideas about the Jewish people and about Israel” and “further the spread of antisemitic hate on our campus, in an attempt to sow fear.” (Link: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jewish-university-rochester-faculty-staff-targeted-hundreds-wanted-pos-rcna179941)

Cumberland County, PA, November 13, 2024 (FOX 43): Ronald Bates, 53, pled guilty to ethnic intimidation and was sentenced to 18 months of probation for leaving an anti-Semitic note at Dickinson College’s Asbell Center for Jewish Life in May. Police did not release details regarding what was written in the note, but said the comments were “anti-Semitic in nature.” (Link: https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/cumberland-county/cumberland-county-man-sentenced-anti-semitic-note-dickinson-college-jewish-center/521-415a74f6-1cdc-4953-9154-39c5fd4bd096)

Tampa, Florida, November 4, 2024 (DoJ, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida): Andrea Rubiano, 49, pleaded guilty to sending threatening text messages on October 13 and 14, 2023, to 12 Palestinian Americans residing in the Tampa area. In one message, sent, Rubiano stated:  “Palestinians in Tampa must die!! You Family [the victim’s surname] are fucking shit They are trash they should die first The [victim’s surname] family is shit in Tampa In the mosque we are going to behead them and drag them alive like rats fucking Palestinians with their wives and children We took you out of your land like rats, now we are going to get you out of here you fucking bastards, [the victim’s surname] brothers.” (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/riverview-woman-pleads-guilty-sending-threatening-messages-palestinian-americans)

Pittsburgh, PA, October 30, 2024 (KDKA CBS News Pittsburgh): Twenty-three-year-old Mohamad Hamad of Coraopolis and 24-year-old Talya A. Lubit of Pittsburgh are accused of vandalizing Chabad of Squirrel Hill’s synagogue and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s office building in July, 2024. According to prosecutors, on the Chabad building, Hamad and Lubit spray painted “Jews 4 Palestine” with an inverted triangle, which authorities said “first appeared in videos posted online by Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization, of the current fighting in Gaza where it was used to mark an Israeli target about to be attacked by Hamas fighters.” After that, authorities said Hamad and Lubid spray-painted another message on the outside of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. During the investigation, prosecutors said Hamad and Lubit’s phones were seized. The two messaged about their plans to vandalize the buildings and specifically discussed selecting Jewish targets, authorities said. According to officials, Hamad also referred to himself as a “Hamas operative” and talked to another person about building an explosive device, including showing a video of a test detonation in early July. Hamad and Lubid are charged with damaging religious property and conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States. (Link: https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/charges-vandalizing-jewish-buildings-pittsburgh/)

California, October 30, 2024 (The Sacramento Bee): On August 11, Sikh American advocate Satinder Pal Singh Raju was the target of a drive-by shooting. This incident, which is the subject of state and federal investigations, underscores a pattern of threats against Sikhs being attacked for their religious views, with connections tracing back to India. The upcoming trial of Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national charged in connection with an assassination plot targeting Sikh leaders in the United States has raised alarming questions about state-sponsored efforts to silence the Sikh diaspora. Five potential targets were warned by federal authorities (three of the five were California residents). Just 12 days before Gupta’s arrest, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh leader in British Columbia, was murdered in a targeted attack linked to India’s security apparatus. In June, the U.S. Justice Department charged Bhushan Athale, an Indian-American from Texas, with federal hate crimes for allegedly threatening employees of a Sikh nonprofit organization. (Link: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article294421829.html)

Yuba City, CA, October 26, 2024 (FBI Sacramento): In a statement the Sacramento FBI Field Office has warned of potential threats of violence involving rival gangs in or around the vicinity of the Sikh Parade in Yuba City, CA, from November 1-3, 2024. And encourage members of the public to be vigilant of suspicious behavior. Philadelphia, PA, October 24, 2024 (Detroit Free Press): A historic synagogue in Philadelphia was the target of arson, vandalism, and an attempted burglary in three separate incidents that occurred within hours of each other. Congregation Mikveh Israel is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States. An arson fire light just outside the synagogue damaged a window. A suspect was seen in a surveillance video. Later, surveillance footage caught two suspects attempting to gain entry into the synagogue, damaging a fence and a door. Later, police responded to the vandalism of a religious statue at the synagogue that was covered in profanity. No suspect has been identified. Over the past several months, Congregation Mikveh Israel has been repeatedly targeted by acts of antisemitic vandalism, according to the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia with the recent arson an escalation. The synagogue is reported to be the oldest continuous synagogue in the United States. (Link: https://www.freep.com/story/news/nation/2024/10/24/philadelphia-synagogue-vandalism-arson-attempted-burglary/75815727007/)

Nationwide, October 23, 2024 (ADL: Campus Alert re: Hillel Under Attack/Article re: Anti-Israel Activists Glorifying 10/7 Architect Yahya Sinwar ): National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) has launched the #DropHillel campaign, targeting Hillel International, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world. The campaign accuses Hillel of promoting “pro-Israel indoctrination” and demands the abolition of its chapters on campuses. The movement gained momentum at a recent rally at UNC-Chapel Hill, where SJP protesters called for “no more Hillel,” saying that shuttering the hub for Jewish life is a long coveted goal for the anti-Zionist movement. This campaign comes amid a sharp rise in anti-Israel activity on college campuses. ADL’s recent report discovered anti-Zionist incidents have surged by 477% in the past year, with Jewish students increasingly facing harassment and physical threats. Additionally, dozens of chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and other campus groups were among those explicitly supportive of Hamas leader and October 7 architect Yahya Sinwar after his death, reposting hagiographies, obituaries, and images of him with captions like “glory to our martyrs” or “rest in power.” Some of these posts also incorporated additional violent rhetoric and imagery, including of weapons and inverted red triangles (a symbol popularized by Hamas to mark targets). (Link: https://www.adl.org/resources/article/anti-israel-activists-pay-tribute-107-architect-yahya-sinwar-reflecting-pattern)

Los Angeles, CA, October 22, 2024 (Wall Street Journal/New York Post): Jewish students and staffers were routinely assaulted, threatened and harassed as anti-Israel protests erupted on campus at the University of California, Los Angeles, according to the school’s antisemitism task force. The group’s new 93-page report found that as protests over the war in Gaza broke out in UCLA, public displays of antisemitism ran rampant in the school. The demonstrations barred students from getting to their classes, a tactic that was ruled unlawful by a judge in August who slammed the so-called “Jew Exclusion Zone” on campus. The report ultimately slammed the school and administration for prioritizing its views on Freedom of Speech over the safety and wellbeing of students and staff. (Links: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/jewish-students-at-ucla-were-harassed-threatened-and-assaulted-on-campus-report-finds-d1562e03?mod=hp_lead_pos10; https://nypost.com/2024/10/22/us-news/jewish-students-assaulted-threatened-at-ucla-during-anti-israel-protests-report/)

Albany, NY, October 21, 2024 (JNS): Andrew Miller will serve 14 months imprisonment and supervised release for illegally purchasing a shotgun fand providing it to Mudif Fawaz Alkhader, who then used the shotgun to fire shots outside of Temple Isarel if Albany, while at least two dozen pre-school age children were inside. Alkhader reportedly yelled “Free Palestine” at or near the site of the shooting. He faces up to 20 years in jail. (Link: https://www.jns.org/man-gets-14-months-for-role-in-shotgun-attack-on-albany-synagogue/).

New Brunswick, NJ, October 19, 2024 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): Jacob Beacher pleaded guilty to forcibly entered the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University (CILRU) on or about April 10, 2024. He broke a glass pane on the door, pushed through a piece of plexiglass that was affixed to the interior side of the door and then manually opened the door from the inside by reaching through the broken glass to unlatch a deadbolt lock. Once inside the CILRU, Beacher damaged the CILRU’s property, including several religious artifacts, such as Turbah prayer stones and numerous items that contained holy language from the Qur’an, Islam’s sacred scripture. Beacher also stole a Palestinian flag and at least one charity box belonging to the CILRU. Beacher faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-pleads-guilty-federal-hate-crime-breaking-center-islamic-life-rutgers)  

New York, NY, October 8, 2024 (JTA): Hate crimes targeting Jews in New York City have surged this year, according to NYPD data. From the beginning of 2024 through Sept. 30, Jews were targeted in at least 275 hate crimes, compared to 158 incidents during the same period last year. This year’s sum is an increase of 117 incidents, or 74%. Jews have been targeted in 55% of all hate incidents in the city so far this year, an increase of 14% over last year, the data said. The data report published on Tuesday indicates that the spike in antisemitism that was documented in New York City following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 invasion of Israel has continued at varying levels through the rest of the 12 months since the attack. That spike in antisemitic attacks also fueled an overall 30% rise in hate crimes against all groups in the city this year, an NYPD statement said. (Link: https://www.jta.org/2024/10/08/ny/antisemitic-hate-crimes-in-nyc-have-surged-this-year-according-to-police-data) 

Nationwide, October 7, 2024 (AG Merrick Garland Statement): “We are also committed to continuing to combat the disturbing rise in the volume and frequency of threats against Jewish, Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities here in the United States that we saw in the wake of last year’s attacks.”(Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-statement-marking-one-year-hamass-october-7-terrorist)

Nationwide, October 6, 2024 (ADL): There have been more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in the year since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel. This is the highest number of incidents ever recorded in any single year since ADL started tracking in 1979. These newly released figures, from Oct. 7, 2023 to Sept. 24, 2024, represent an over 200-percent increase compared to the incidents reported to us during the same period a year before, which saw 3,325 incidents. Over 8,015 incidents of verbal or written harassment. Over 1,840 incidents of vandalism. Over 150 incidents of physical assault. At least 1,200 of these antisemitic incidents happened on college campuses (a 500% annual increase). Of these incidents, over 2,000 occurred at Jewish institutions such as synagogues and Jewish centers. More than half of all incidents at Jewish institutions took the form of bomb threats (only 81 bomb threats against Jewish institutions were recorded in the same period in the prior year.) (Link: https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/over-10000-antisemitic-incidents-recorded-us-oct-7-2023-according-adl)

Minneapolis, MN, October 6, 2024 (Brainerd Dispatch): Minneapolis police officers have arrested a man who allegedly made terroristic threats against a Minneapolis synagogue. In September, staff at Temple Israel reported receiving several phone calls from an individual threatening to “shoot up” the synagogue. Police say that same man was observed outside Temple Israel on Thursday, Oct. 3, with a firearm. He was arrested the following  day. (Link: https://www.brainerddispatch.com/news/minnesota/man-arrested-for-alleged-terrorist-threats-against-minneapolis-synagogue)

Nationwide, October 3, 2024 (FBI Public Service Announcement): The FBI issued a threat summary highlighting potential threats to the US from a variety of actors in response to the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terror attack on Israel. According to the alert, the FBI has “observed over the past year, violent extremist activity and hate crimes in the United States linked to the conflict. Jewish, Muslim, or Arab institutions — including synagogues, mosques/Islamic centers, and community centers — and large public gatherings, such as memorials, vigils, or other lawful demonstrations, present attractive targets for violent attacks or for hoax threats by a variety of threat actors, including violent extremists and hate crime perpetrators.” It further summarized that “Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and other violent extremists likely will continue to exploit narratives related to the conflict to call for lone attackers to conduct violence in the United States. Online messaging associated with FTOs and other violent extremists highlighting the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks could motivate threat actors across ideologies, including those who espouse violent anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, to engage in violence. Individuals inspired by this online messaging could act alone to commit an attack with little to no warning.” (Link: https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA241004)

Nationwide, October 2, 2024 (DHS, Office of Public Affairs): The Department of Homeland Security issued its 2025 Threat Assessment, which indicated that the threat of domestic and foreign terrorism in the Homeland remains high. DHS highlighted it operational components and offices across the Department that are involved in combatting threats. To combat threats targeting the faith and nonprofit communities, highlighted the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), whose funding supports target hardening and other physical security enhancements to non-profit organizations at high risk of terrorist attack.(Link: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2024/10/02/dhs-2025-homeland-threat-assessment-indicates-threat-domestic-and-foreign-terrorism)  

Los Angeles, CA, September 30, 2024 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): Jaime Tran, 30, formerly of Riverside, CA, pleaded guilty on June 3 to two counts of hate crimes with intent to kill and two counts of using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. He received a sentence of 35 years in prison for shooting and wounding two Jewish men last year as they left religious services in the Pico-Robertson area of Los Angeles. According to the government’s sentencing submission, Tran obsessed over his antisemitic hatred for years leading up to the attack. “After years of spewing antisemitic vitriol, the defendant planned and carried out a two-day attack attempting to murder Jews leaving synagogue in Los Angeles,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Vile acts of antisemitic hatred endanger the safety of individuals and entire communities, and allowing such crimes to go unchecked endangers the foundation of our democracy itself.” ran drove to Pico-Robertson and shot a Jewish victim wearing a yarmulke as he was leaving religious services at a synagogue. Tran, believing the victim was Jewish, shot him at close range centimeters from his spine, intending to kill him. Tran then fled the scene in his car. The next morning, Feb. 16, 2023, Tran returned to the Pico-Robertson area, intending to shoot another Jewish person. Tran shot a second Jewish victim, also wearing a yarmulke and leaving a synagogue after attending religious services. Tran shot the victim at close range, intending to kill him, as the victim crossed the street. Tran again fled the scene. Boths victims survived the attacks. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-california-man-sentenced-35-years-prison-attempting-murder-two-jewish-men-leaving-los)

Nationwide, September 25, 2024 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): There were a record number of hate crimes in 2023 (11,862). There were also a record number of anti-Arab and anti-Jewish hate crimes, with increases of 34% and 63% respectively, and anti-Muslim hate crimes increased by 49%. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/principal-deputy-associate-attorney-general-benjamin-c-mizer-delivers-remarks-2024-hate)

Nationwide. September 2023 (ADL): Hate crime incidents across the country reached a record high of 11,862 in 2023. In 2023, reported single-bias anti-Jewish hate crime incidents rose to 1,832 incidents, a sharp increase of 63 percent from 2022, and the highest number ever recorded by the FBI since it began collecting data in 1991. Jews only make up around 2 percent of the U.S. population yet reported single-bias anti-Jewish hate crimes comprised 15 percent of all hate crimes and 68 percent of all reported religion-based hate crimes in 2023, which is consistent with patterns from prior years. Reported single-bias anti-Muslim hate crime incidents rose from 158 in 2022 to 236 in 2023. Reported single-bias religion-based hate crimes, which represented approximately 23 percent of all reported hate crimes, rose from 2,042 in 2022 to 2,699 in 2023. ADL, which keeps its own count of both criminal and non-criminal acts of hate against Jews, counted a total of 8,873 antisemitic incidents in 2023, a 140-percent increase from the prior year, and the highest number on record since ADL began tracking such data in 1979. Assaults – considered the most serious incident type because it involves person-on-person physical violence – increased by 45 percent in 2023. (Link: https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/new-fbi-data-reflects-record-high-number-anti-jewish-hate-crimes).

Nationwide, September 20, 2024 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): The Justice Department convened its quarterly interagency meeting to hear from Jewish community stakeholders. Who highlighted concerns about ensuring safe learning environments at schools, colleges, and universities. The department took this opportunity to underscore its continued prosecution of hate crimes and discussed several recent cases around the country that made apparent the breadth and magnitude of the threats the Jewish community is facing. They reported on a North Carolina man charged with making antisemitic threats to a rabbi in Georgia; a California man who pleaded guilty to shooting two Jewish men, leaving an Los Angeles synagogue; a Michigan man convicted and sentenced for conspiring with other members of a white supremacist group, the Base, to victimize Jewish people, including desecrating a Jewish synagogue in Hancock, Michigan, with Neo-Nazi symbols; a Mississippi man who pleaded guilty to cyberstalking and harassing synagogues in Pennsylvania; an Indiana man sentenced for sending violent antisemitic threats to the Anti-Defamation League; and the leaders of a transnational white supremacist terrorist group, were arrested and charged with soliciting hate crimes, soliciting murder and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, including hate crimes and terrorist attacks against Jewish people. (Links: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/readout-justice-departments-civil-rights-divisions-meeting-jewish-community-stakeholders-0; https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leaders-transnational-terrorist-group-charged-soliciting-hate-crimes-soliciting-murder)

Nationwide, September 17, 2024 (Testimony of Rabbi Dr. Marl Goldfederer, Esq., Director, National  Jewish Advocacy Center before the Senate Judiciary Committee Testimony): On college campuses across the country, between hiding from mobs in the library, avoiding dining halls because of death threats, and removing Nazi symbols from Chabad houses, Jewish students have been subjected to campaigns that employ classic antisemitic tropes (ranging from claims of dual loyalty to outright blood libels) and calls for them to be removed from campus if they dare to identify as Zionists10 — which the vast majority of Jewish people do. Antisemitic incidents increased year-over-year in all major location categories. Incidents at K-12 schools increased by 135%. Incidents at Jewish institutions jumped by 237%. Incidents on college and university campuses spiked by a staggering 321%. The White House National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism recently stated, “Jewish students and educators are targeted for derision and exclusion on college campuses, often because of their real or perceived views about the State of Israel. When Jews are targeted because of their beliefs or their identity, when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism. And that is unacceptable.” (Link: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/a-threat-to-justice-everywhere-stemming-the-tide-of-hate-crimes-in-america)

Alameda County, CA, September 19, 2024 (CBS News): Prosecutors in Alameda County have charged a man with a hate crime for allegedly threatening someone whose vehicle was adorned with an Israeli flag, the District Attorney’s Office said. Jesus Hernandez, 40, was charged with one misdemeanor hate crime count, a second count of felony criminal threats, and a third count of brandishing a replica firearm. Hernandez allegedly veered toward another person’s vehicle which was adorned with an Israeli flag. Hernandez is accused of threatening to kill the person in the vehicle, yelling racial slurs and pointing a replica firearm at the person. (Link: https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/alameda-county-hate-crime-charge-driver-israeli-flag-threatened-on-freeway/).

New York, NY, September 16, 2024 (Reuters): Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, a Pakistani man accused of plotting to attack a New York City Jewish center in support of Islamic State is contesting his extradition hearing to the United States from Canada. The U.S. Department of Justice accused Khan of plotting a mass shooting at a Jewish center in Brooklyn around Oct. 7, 2024, about a year after Hamas’ attack in Israel which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Khan began posting his support for ISIS on an encrypted messaging application in November 2023. He allegedly communicated his attack plans to undercover agents. (Link: https://www.reuters.com/world/man-accused-plot-attack-new-york-jewish-center-will-contest-extradition-lawyer-2024-09-16/)

San Diego, September 13, 2024 (KGTV): Hate crimes in San Diego County have surged 39% from 2022, according to SANDAG’s annual crime report. There were 133 incidents, and 151 victims of hate crimes reported to law enforcement in the region in 2023. Compared to 2022, hate crime incidents rose 39% and there were 36% more victims. Additionally, the region saw 64% more incidents and a 48% increase in victims from 2021 to 2023. Race/ethnicity crimes increased by 44%, and religion-bias crimes by 24%. Religiously motivated incidents saw the biggest year-over-year increase. (Link: https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/san-diego-news/hate-crimes-rise-39-in-san-diego-county-according-to-new-sandag-report)

Nationwide, September 11, 2024 (DoJ, Office of Public Affairs): The Justice Department convened its quarterly interagency meeting with Muslim, Arab, Sikh, South Asian and Hindu community stakeholders, where the Department underscored its commitment to addressing hate crimes and highlighted efforts to ensure safe learning environments at schools, colleges and universities. The Department relayed its commitment  to prosecuting hate crimes, including recent cases involving a Kentucky man who was charged with brandishing a gun and threatening a Palestinian American and Muslim man at a restaurant, a New Jersey man for sending threatening letters containing racist, anti-Muslim and antisemitic language and imagery to businesses, schools, synagogues and individuals for the purpose of instilling fear in the community and the leaders of the Terrorgram Collective, a transnational terrorist group for using digital platforms to solicit others to engage in hate crimes and terrorist attacks against immigrants and other groups based on hate-fueled bigotry and white supremacy. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/readout-justice-departments-civil-rights-divisions-meeting-muslim-arab-sikh-south-asian-0)

New York, NY, September 9, 2024 (CBS News): The NYPD says it plans to up security at synagogues around New York City as the Jewish High Holidays approach after the Department of Justice charged Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, a 20-year-old Pakistani citizen living in Canada, with planning a mass shooting at a Jewish center in New York City in support of ISIS. Federal officials said Khan then unknowingly told the undercover officers about his plans, saying he was trying to create an offline cell of ISIS supporters who would carry out a coordinated assault by using AR-style assault rifles at Jewish Chabads (Jewish religious, learning and community centers, in Brooklyn. Khan allegedly told the undercover officers that “New York is perfect to target Jews” because of the large Jewish population, and “if we succeed with our plan this would be the largest Attack [sic] on US soil since 9/11.” In response, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said police will be ramping up security at synagogues over the next month. (Links: https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/security-upped-at-nyc-synagogues-terror-attack-foiled/; https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/nyc-jewish-center-mass-shooting-plan-arrest/)

Las Cruces, NM, August 23, 2024 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Mexico): On May 31, 2023, Nathan Wallace, 41, was observed in the children’s playground of East Mesa Baptist Church in possession of a destructive device and ammunition. Upon questioning, he admitted to possessing a metal pipe containing gunpowder, which was later confirmed to be an operational pipe bomb. Additionally, a search of Wallace’s belongings revealed a 20-gauge Winchester AA High Strength shotgun shell, a motion sensor, two cell phones, and various modified batteries and wires, indicating potential explosive device components. Wallace is prohibited by federal law from handling or possessing firearms or ammunition due to his previous felony convictions. Wallace was sentenced to 52 months in prison following his conviction. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/pr/us-attorneys-office-secures-52-month-sentence-las-cruces-man-following-2023-pipe-bomb)

National, August 22, 2024 (Associated Press): The country is facing heightened threats from many corners at a time when law enforcement agencies are struggling, FBI Director Christopher Wray said in an exclusive interview, adding that he is “hard pressed to think of a time in my career where so many different kinds of threats are all elevated at once.” His remarks come as the FBI confronts heightened concerns over terrorism, both domestic and international. I worry about the combination of that many threats being elevated at once, with the challenges facing the men and women in law enforcement more generally,” Wray said. “And the one thing that I think helps bridge those [ ] challenges is partnerships…” Wray’s assessment of an elevated threat landscape is consistent with alarm bells he has sounded for months. Soon after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in Israel, Wray began warning that the rampage could serve as an inspiration to militants, “the likes of which we haven’t seen since ISIS launched its so-called caliphate years ago.” At that time, in Congressional testimony, Wray warned, that Hamas’ rampage inside Israel could inspire violence in the U.S., telling lawmakers that multiple foreign extremist groups have called for attacks against Americans. To his point, Wray cited sobering statistics, saying that Jewish people make up 2.4% of the U.S. population but are the targets of about 60% of religious-based hate crimes. “That should be jarring to everyone,” he said. His testimony dove tailed with that of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who also testified that his agency has responded to an increase in threats against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab American communities in the U.S. since the Oct. 7 attack. “Hate directed at Jewish students, communities and institutions add to a preexisting increase in the level of antisemitism in the United States and around the world,” Mayorkas said. (Links: https://apnews.com/article/fbi-director-christopher-wray-threats-minneapolis-8633ed78ee3eb333e76a54792976327a; https://apnews.com/article/fbi-hamas-attack-isis-bb1ceb7ce51cfc05ed751d2ce7983fcd)

New York, NY, August 20, 2024 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York): An indictment was unsealed charging Portland OR resident Domagoj Patkovic, 31, for allegedly making a series of false bomb threats against Jewish healthcare facilities that prompted repeated emergency responses from local law enforcement and a partial evacuation from at least one hospital. These alleged actions incited unnecessary hysteria and redirected limited resources to mitigate a false alarm. The defendant himself made threats in at least six separate calls to hospitals and on a call with local law enforcement who had responded to a 911 notification from one of the hospitals.  The defendant livestreamed the calls to others on an online social media and electronic communications service.  On several occasions, local police responded to the scene and conducted bomb sweeps and a partial evacuation and lockdown of an entire hospital on Long Island. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/oregon-man-charged-swatting-and-bomb-threats-scheme-targeted-jewish-hospitals-new-0)

New York, NY, August 11, 2024 (New York Times): A 22-year-old Brooklyn man was charged with assault as a hate crime after the police said he yelled “Free Palestine” and “Do you want to die?” before stabbing a young Jewish religious man near a synagogue in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. The 22-year-old man, Vincent Sumpter, was charged with second-degree assault as a hate crime in the attack, around the corner from the headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement The victim, Yechiel Michel Dabrowskin, was stabbed in the chest. (Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/11/nyregion/brooklyn-stabbing-hate-crime.html)

Baltimore, MD, August 11, 2024 (CBS News): A 66-year-old man was arrested in connection with a fire set outside the Jewish Museum. Baltimore Police obtained an arrest warrant for Assadollah Hashemi, who was suspected to have caused the damage at the facility. Baltimore City SWAT officers entered his home and took him into custody. Video footage depicts a person pulling up to the museum and lighting a small item on fire in front of the locked gates before leaving, The fire department came to extinguish the fire. The museum is located between two historic synagogues, the Lloyd Street Synagogue and B’nai

Israel. Originally called the Jewish Historical Society of Maryland, the museum was founded in 1960 and took on its current name in 1998. (Link: https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/police-arrest-man-66-for-alleged-hate-crime-fire-outside-the-jewish-museum-of-maryland/)

Washington, DC, August 8, 2024 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia): A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Brent Wood, 35, of Toledo, Ohio, with three counts of obstructing by force or threat of force a person’s enjoyment of their free exercise of religious beliefs, while using a dangerous weapon. The indictment alleges that on December 17, 2023, Wood drove a U-Haul truck around security barriers and parked on the sidewalk directly in front of Kesher Israel Congregation Synagogue, at 2801 N St NW, Washington, DC. Over the next several minutes, while in the immediate vicinity of the synagogue, Wood accosted congregants and others by spraying a noxious aerosol and yelling, “Gas the Jews!” Wood faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each of the three counts. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/assault-congregants-outside-washington-dc-synagogue-charged-federal-hate-crime)

Lakewood, NJ, July 23, 2024 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey): Dion Marsh, 29, of Manchester, New Jersey, was sentenced today to 480 months in prison for a series of violent assaults on members of the Orthodox Jewish community in and around Lakewood. Marsh admitted to willfully causing bodily injury to five victims and attempting to kill and cause injuries with dangerous weapons to four of them, all because they were Jewish. In multiple instances, Marsh stole and used vehicles to run down visibly Orthodox Jewish people on the sidewalks in an attempt to kill them. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/ocean-county-man-sentenced-40-years-prison-series-violent-assaults-members-orthodox)

New York, NY, August 6, 2024 (New York Jewish Week/JTA): The NYPD reported 30 antisemitic incidents across the city in July, three times higher than the 10 anti-Jewish hate crimes reported during the same month last year, as the increase in antisemitism in New York continues nearly 10 months after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7. Last month, Jews were targeted in more hate incidents than all other groups combined, as they have been nearly every month since October 2023. Hate incidents against Jews spiked after Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel, with 69 in October and 62 in November. (Link: https://www.jta.org/2024/08/06/ny/nypd-reports-30-antisemitic-incidents-in-july-3-times-higher-than-last-year)

Los Angeles, CA, July 20, 2024 (CBS News): Police are investigating a possible hate crime after a Hollywood synagogue was vandalized for the second time in weeks. Security camera footage shows the moments that two men wearing hoodies stop in front of the Kahal Ahavas Yisroel Synagogue, one of which can be seen smashing the front windows with an unidentified object. The incident is just the latest in a string of localized reactions as the fighting the Middle East continues after nearly nine months. The Anti-Defamation League says that antisemitic incidents have seen a sharp increase, nearly doubling from last year. Just last month, dueling protests outside of a Pico-Robertson synagogue turned violent, resulting in several injuries and at least one arrest. no arrests have been made. (Link: https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/lapd-investigating-hate-crime-after-hollywood-synagogue-vandalized-for-second-time-in-recent-weeks/)

Indianapolis, IN, July 24, 2024 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Indiana): Andrezj Boryga (An-dre-g Bor-egg-ah), 67, of Indianapolis, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to leaving voicemails at Anti-Defamation League offices located in New York, Texas, Colorado, and Nevada, using antisemitic slurs on eight voicemails as he threatened to assault or kill Jewish people. This case represents the latest effort by the Justice Department to combat the disturbing increase in threats against Jews and Jewish institutions across the United States that we have seen in the wake of October 7th. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdin/pr/indiana-man-sentenced-federal-prison-sending-violent-antisemitic-threats-anti)

New York, NY, July 17, 2024 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York): Nikolay Levinson, of Palisades Park, New Jersey, was sentenced to 26 months in prison for mailing at least 41 anonymous, threatening, racist, antisemitic, and anti-Muslim letters to schools, synagogues, individuals and others for the sole purpose of instilling fear in innocent members of the community. From June through November 2022, Levinson mailed six threatening letters to five victims in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn, New York, and at least 35 other letters to victims in the greater New York City area. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/new-jersey-man-sentenced-26-months-prison-mailing-threatening-communications)

New York, NY, July 16, 2014 (DOJ, Office of Public Affairs): A federal grand jury in Brooklyn, New York, returned a four-count indictment today charging Georgian national Michail Chkhikvishvili, 20, a Leader of Maniac Murder Cult, a White Supremacist Group, allegedly recruited others to commit arsons and bombings targeting racial minorities and the Jewish community, in New York City. MMC adheres to a neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology and promotes violence and violent acts against racial minorities, the Jewish community and other groups it deems “undesirables.” It is alleged that beginning in approximately November 2023, Chkhikvishvili solicited an undercover FBI agent (UC) to commit violent crimes, such as bombings and arsons, for the purpose of harming racial minorities, Jewish individuals and others and that Chkhikvishvili provided detailed plans and materials such as bomb-making instructions and guidance on making Molotov cocktails to facilitate his desire for the UC to carry out these crimes. In November 2023, Chkhikvishvili began planning a mass casualty attack in New York City including providing candy laced with poison to children at Jewish schools in Brooklyn. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/georgian-national-charged-soliciting-hate-crimes-and-mass-casualty-attack-new-york-city)

Fort Wayne, IN, July 17, 2024 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Indiana): Jeffrey Stevens, 42 years old, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced to 15 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release, for his use of a social media platform in November 2023 to transmit a message to the Fort Wayne Police Department.  The message contained a threat to kill individuals of Jewish faith with the suggestion that there was nothing the local police could do about it. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndin/pr/fort-wayne-man-sentenced-threatening-communications)

Boca Raton, FL, July 16, 2024 (CBS News 12): The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office arrested 26-year-old Paul Morrison, accusing him of threatening a mass shooting at a synagogue as well as sending antisemitic messages on social media. According to the arrest affidavit, Morris had sent a message on Instagram that stated, “I want Hitler to come back to kill all the Jews.” The court document submitted by the PBC State Attorney said Morris,” intentionally selected Jewish People and/or a Jewish Synagogue because of that perception or knowledge.” Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg submitted a document stating there was, “evidence of prejudice while committing written threats to kill or do bodily harm,” that charge Morrison with first-degree felony. (Link: https://cbs12.com/news/local/boca-raton-man-paul-morris-charged-under-hate-crime-statute-for-synagogue-threats-antisemitic-messages-palm-beach-county-south-florida-news-july-16-2024)

Dougla, AZ, July 12, 2024 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona): Eric Ridenour, 58, of Douglas, was found guilty of six arson and hate crimes counts, for the burning of two churches on May 22, 2023. Ridenour burned down two churches in Douglas: Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church and First Presbyterian Church. The churches were located on Church Square, a historic district approximately two hours southeast of Tucson. It is believed to have been the only intersection in the nation containing churches from four different denominations: Southern Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Methodist. It was established at trial that Ridenour intentionally started the fires in both churches because of his hostility towards the religious principles of a churches’ congregations. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/pr/douglas-man-who-burned-two-churches-convicted-hate-crimes-and-arson)  

California, July 3, 2024 (The Jewish News of Northern CA): Hate crimes targeting Jews rose sharply last year in California, despite a drop in hate crimes overall, according to the state’s annual report. While hate crime events of all kinds decreased 7.1%, hate crimes motivated by religious bias jumped from 303 to 394, a 30% rise in the same time period. Crimes motivated specifically by anti-Jewish bias accounted for most of that increase, rising from 189 to 289, a 53% jump from 2022 to 2023. Anti-Jewish crimes accounted for 73% of all hate crimes tied to religious bias last year in California. Also of note, anti-Muslim hate crimes also rose — from 25 in 2022 to 40 last year. California’s annual report collects data on hate crimes reported by law enforcement agencies. The information is used to develop and implement state policies, such as State funding for security grants for houses of worship and community centers. (Link: https://jweekly.com/2024/07/03/report-anti-jewish-hate-crimes-in-california-rose-at-alarming-rate-last-year/)

Los Angeles, June 28, 2024 (The Times of Israel): US Attorney General Merrick Garland said that federal officials are investigating a demonstration over the Israel-Hamas war that spiraled into violence outside a Los Angeles synagogue. Garland said the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California “have been and, as we speak, are collecting evidence on that matter.” According to reports, anti-Israel protesters attempted to block the entrance to the synagogue on Pico Boulevard. Garland said the “Justice Department will not tolerate criminal acts motivated by antisemitic hate,” becoming emotional as he recalled his family’s own history fleeing the pogroms of Eastern Europe at the start of the 20th century. “Let me promise to the Jewish community that this Justice Department will do everything within its power, working with federal partners and state and local partners, to secure the community’s safety,” he said. “And as attorney general, I will do everything in my power to do that.” Rabbi Noah Farkas, the CEO of the Los Angeles Jewish Federation, called the protest a “coordinated assault” on the Jewish community. He added that the violence was not surprising. “This is a moment that we have been almost slouching towards for a couple years now,” he said. “As we’ve said before many times, hate speech, hate incidences, they lead to hate crimes.” Los Angeles saw some of the most violent scenes during the recent wave of pro-Palestinian encampments at US educational institutions amid mounting accusations of antisemitic harassment against Jewish students. (Link: https://www.timesofisrael.com/fbi-investigating-violence-outside-la-synagogue-as-mayor-considers-mask-ban/)

Florida, June 19, 2024 (JewishPress.Com): More than 50 synagogues across the state of Florida were forced to evacuate their premises on Tuesday after all of them received bomb threats via email. The threats were sent to Jewish houses of worship in Miami, Broward County, Palm Beach County and elsewhere, that lead to police bomb squad sweeps and evacuations that worried synagogue staff, campers and their parents. (Link: https://www.jewishpress.com/news/us-news/florida/50-florida-synagogues-evacuate-due-to-bomb-threat/2024/06/19/)

Pennsylvania, June 18, 2024 (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania): Donavon Parish, 29, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, entered a plea of guilty before a United States District Court Judge to one count of cyberstalking and five counts of abuse and harassment for using a Voice over Internet Protocol service to make a series of phone calls to synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In these calls, the defendant repeatedly referenced the genocide of approximately six million Jewish people during the Holocaust, stating, among other things, “Heil Hitler,” “all Jews must die,” “we will put you in work camps,” “gas the Jews,” and “Hitler should have finished the job.” For his cyberstalking and targeting victims based on their religion is a hate crime, the defendant faces a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment. (Link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edpa/pr/mississippi-man-pleads-guilty-cyberstalking-and-antisemitic-harassment-synagogues)

The post Threat Incident Compilation (Updated as of 11/19/25) appeared first on Sphere State Group.

I often receive technical assistance questions and requests from followers of this blog and am typically happy to oblige their inquiries, especially as less information and engagement is coming from FEMA these days.

One such inquiry came to me from a local law enforcement official who follows this blog and who has given his personal time and energy towards assisting nonprofits in his community apply for the NSGP grant. I am always happy to respond to his questions.

This past week, he reached out to me after one of his community’s NSGP orgs. went through a federal audit of their 2024 grant project. He described the inspection as “a bit grueling , going through a 56-point checklist,” followed by their receipt of a 37-page report setting forth several non-compliance violations that needed to be redressed through the submission of “corrective action plans” and proof of “implemented remedial action” to come into compliance.

The official shared with me three areas the report identified the organization as noncompliant: 1) Internal controls to safeguard protected personally identifiable information; 2) Procedures for managing equipment acquired through the grant, such as property records (i.e., a description of the property, a serial number or other identification number, the source of funding for the property (including the FAIN), who holds title, the acquisition date, and cost of the property); and 3) Open competition in procurement transactions for the acquisition of property or services required under the grant.

I was asked what I knew of such audits and what advice I might provide to get organizations through the corrective process.

The following was my response:

• Audits have always been a possibility but in the past rarely occurred. I have seen more back and forth with organizations seeking approval for their Project Management Plans (lacking sufficient details) from the State Administrative Agencies.
• I believe and expect there will be a greater number of federal audits occurring as the program’s funding has increased substantially in recent years and as the current administration has articulated interest in greater organization oversight.
• None of my clients have been audited, so my hands on experience is nominal.
• However, over the years, I have advised and admonished applicants to keep records as required, to conduct competitive procurement processes as required.
• I have had concerns that awardees generally “loose” with adherence to the rules, terms, and conditions, as oversight has been rare over the years.
• Similarly, I have had concerns that FEMA and the SAAs have not been particularly engaged and proactive in articulating to the sub-recipients what is required and the training to ensure understanding and compliance.
• Until recently, much of the past-award terms and conditions compliance and oversight has been pro forma.

I shared with my law enforcement friend that the audit of his community’s organization could be a test case for the greater community and could serve as an illustration to all for what is required.

I then recommended his contacting his State Administrative Agency to seek their help with the individual organization and to gage their interest in holding community training on compliance and audit expectations with FY 2025 in mind.

I received a positive response to this advice as follows:

They are connecting directly with the inspection team lead to find out exactly what they are looking for. On their initial contact with them, they were very positive and liked the idea of being proactive and providing useful information to the sub-recipients, so they don’t have problems later in the process.

My advice to all subscribers is that federal grant funding is not a gift. Sub-recipients, as stewards of public funds, have a duty of care with the use of public funds. Compliance with privacy safeguards, record keeping, the avoidance of procurement conflicts of interest, and other requirements of this program should be expected and addressed as part of the administrative process of the grant program. This is why the application requires applicants to organize and describe the project management team that is expected to be capable of meeting project requirements.

The management questions are not intended to simply be a means to receive funding; they are a roadmap to what will be expected of grant sub-recipients to follow in past-award project implementation.

No longer can grant requirements be taken for granted. In turn, I believe that the SAAs need to bolster their grant application engagement and to plainly and more fully address post-award compliance requirements and expectations starting at the application stage and continuing through post-award commencement.

Whether an individual sub-applicant or a community representative, I would recommend impressing upon the SAAs to be proactive. It will benefit the program and reduce if not alleviate potential audit headaches for them and their sub-recipient organizations.

Best,

Rob Goldberg
Principal
Goldberg and Associates, LLC
In partnership with Sphere State

The post Post-Award Administrative Compliance appeared first on Sphere State Group.

Several of you have reached out to me seeking clarification, explanation, and guidance regarding the immigration enforcement requirements/encouragements set forth in the FY 2025 Nonprofit Security Grant Program Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and the Department of Homeland Security Standard Terms and Conditions. I have reviewed the NOFO, Terms & Conditions, and also recent legal rulings on point.

I address all of these issues in detail, as follows:

I. Immigration and the Notice of Funding Opportunity

The FY 2025 NSGP Notice of Funding Opportunity sets forth a number of “so called” designated National Priority Areas (NPAs) that applicants are encouraged to demonstrate through their proposed projects.

These NPAs are not specific to NSGP, per se, and are generally contained in grant NOFOs relative to several FEMA administered preparedness grants for FY 2025.

The NPA that pertains to NSGP and the ONLY one I would encourage applicants of the NSGP to address is the “Enhancing the protection of soft targets and crowded places,” including faith-based organizations.

The other NPAs that “encourage” participation in immigration enforcement training, ICE cooperation, and the support of immigration law enforcement, are NOT mandatory and NOT relevant to NSGP.

NSGP is the ONLY counterterrorism preparedness grant program where nonprofit organizations are the intended sub-grant recipients (end users). All others are direct grants to the States or localities (i.e., Homeland Security Task Forces, Fusion Centers, Port and Transit Authorities).

Where the issue of NPAs is concerned, nonprofits need only demonstrate how their proposed projects contribute to the improvement and increase in the physical/cyber security and facility/target hardening of their own facilities and people. The NSGP NOFO is clear on how these improvements are achieved: 

1. “Enhance equipment and conduct security-related activities to improve the security posture of nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of a terrorist or other extremist attack.” 
2. “Address and close capability gaps that are identified in individual nonprofit organization Vulnerability Assessments via funding spent on Planning, Equipment, and Training and Exercises that aim to enhance the protection of soft targets and crowded places.” 
3. “Strengthen relationships across non-profit organization, state, local, and territorial homeland security agencies for a whole community approach to preparedness.” 

Nonprofits do not get funded to engage in intelligence and information sharing, interdiction and disruption, election security, border crisis response and enforcement. Rather, the physical security protections, planning, training and exercises, and contracted security that nonprofits carry out through the NSGP program address one priority area: “Enhancing the protection of soft targets and crowded places.” The specific eligible funding is enumerated by Approved Equipment List (AEL) Code, Tite, and Description. None of the approved investments advance any other NPA.

This should clarify what is required and expected of the NSGP applicants through the FY 25 NSGP NOFO.

II. Immigration and DHS/FEMA Terms and Conditions

Anti-Discrimination
 
The current Terms and Conditions, as written, apply to all federal awards of federal financial assistance for which the federal award date occurs in FY 2025, including nonprofit recipients of Nonprofit Security Grant Program awards. In fact, the FY 2025 NSGP Notice of Funding Opportunity states, “A recipient under this funding opportunity must comply with the DHS Standard Terms and Conditions in effect as of the date of the federal award.”
 
Of concern are new “Anti-Discrimination” terms and conditions that are included that provide (and I paraphrase):
 
Recipients must comply with all applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws material to the government’s payment decisions and in accepting the grant award, they certify that:  

1. Their programs and services do not and will not, during the term of this award, advance or promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) of violations of Federal anti-discrimination laws; 
2. They do not engage in and will not during the term of this award engage in a discriminatory prohibited boycott; and 
3. They do not, and will not during the term of this award, operate any program that benefits illegal immigrants or incentivizes illegal immigration.  

Under these terms and conditions, DHS reserves the right to suspend payments in whole or in part and/or terminate financial assistance awards if DHS determines that the recipient violated any of these provisions and has the right to seek a return of the funds received by the recipient.
 
Communication and Cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration Officials 

In addition to the Anti-Discrimination provisions, there other DHS Terms and Conditions pertaining to “Communication and Cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration Officials,” which apply to State and local recipients, as well as subrecipients – such as subrecipients of the NSGP program.
In summary, these terms and conditions: 

1. Require recipients to share information with (and cannot prohibit the sharing of information from) DHS regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual; 
2. Prohibit recipients from encouraging or inducing an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States in violation of law; 
3. Honor requests for cooperation, such as participation in joint operations, sharing of information, or requests for short term detention of an alien pursuant to a valid detainer; 
4. Provide access to detainees, such as when an immigration officer seeks to interview a person who might be a removable alien; and  
5. Desist from leaking or publicizing the existence of an immigration enforcement operation. 

If enforceable, I expect that these new terms and conditions could impact a segment of the faith-based community and nonprofit sector. As with ALL aspects of the NSGP grant application and post-award processes, it is incumbent upon nonprofit and faith-based sub-applicants/award subrecipients to seek guidance from their respective State Administrative Agencies on what, when, and how conditions will apply and be enforced.

But legality and enforcement, at least with respect to immigration, are NOW open questions.

III. Legal Challenges to the FY 2025 Immigration Terms and Conditions

There has been a recent legal challenge from several states to DHS inserting the immigration terms into awards letters as conditions for receiving federal disaster relief.

In late September, a senior Federal District Court judge granted a motion made by 20 States for a permanent injunction against the Department of Homeland Security immigration terms and conditions, calling them “coercive, ambiguous, unrelated to the purpose of the federal grants, and undermine[s] the system of federalism.” Among them, the ruling covers the discretionary preparedness grant programs. NSGP was specifically mentioned within the order as a covered program.

This week, in an additional order, the judge added further restrictions against the administration’s attempts to skirt the initial order through a new condition.

The latest order bars FEMA from enforcing the contested conditions and “any materially similar term requiring cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.” It further orders FEMA to “amend all award documents” to remove all mention of compliance with immigration law from award letters to localities.

For the States and localities – the State Administrative Agencies and the NSGP (and other) preparedness grant program applicants (and future award recipients), the court orders are welcome news. I hope that they will survive any appeal. Thus far, no appeal has been mentioned or filed. This, of course, could change on this contentious issue.

In the meantime, despite the legal reprieve on immigration, the FY 2025 NSGP application and awards processes remain murky, incomplete, undirected, and uncertain, including as they pertain to the enforcement of the DEI and other anti-discrimination provisions within the DHS Terms and Conditions that remain in effect.

All I can advise is for nonprofit sub-applicants to connect and stay in touch with their SAAs and to follow their lead on all guidance matters pertaining to the NSGP program.

I will continue to report what I know, as well.

Best,

Rob Goldberg
Principal
Goldberg & Associates, LLC
In partnership with Sphere State 

The post Immigration Enforcement and Nonprofit Security Grant Applicants appeared first on Sphere State Group.

Several of you have reached out to me seeking clarification, explanation, and guidance regarding the immigration enforcement requirements/encouragements set forth in the FY 2025 Nonprofit Security Grant Program Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and the Department of Homeland Security Standard Terms and Conditions. I have reviewed the NOFO, Terms & Conditions, and also recent legal rulings on point.

I address all of these issues in detail, as follows:

I. Immigration and the Notice of Funding Opportunity

The FY 2025 NSGP Notice of Funding Opportunity sets forth a number of “so called” designated National Priority Areas (NPAs) that applicants are encouraged to demonstrate through their proposed projects.

These NPAs are not specific to NSGP, per se, and are generally contained in grant NOFOs relative to several FEMA administered preparedness grants for FY 2025.

The NPA that pertains to NSGP and the ONLY one I would encourage applicants of the NSGP to address is the “Enhancing the protection of soft targets and crowded places,” including faith-based organizations.

The other NPAs that “encourage” participation in immigration enforcement training, ICE cooperation, and the support of immigration law enforcement, are NOT mandatory and NOT relevant to NSGP.

NSGP is the ONLY counterterrorism preparedness grant program where nonprofit organizations are the intended sub-grant recipients (end users). All others are direct grants to the States or localities (i.e., Homeland Security Task Forces, Fusion Centers, Port and Transit Authorities).

Where the issue of NPAs is concerned, nonprofits need only demonstrate how their proposed projects contribute to the improvement and increase in the physical/cyber security and facility/target hardening of their own facilities and people. The NSGP NOFO is clear on how these improvements are achieved: 

1. “Enhance equipment and conduct security-related activities to improve the security posture of nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of a terrorist or other extremist attack.” 
2. “Address and close capability gaps that are identified in individual nonprofit organization Vulnerability Assessments via funding spent on Planning, Equipment, and Training and Exercises that aim to enhance the protection of soft targets and crowded places.” 
3. “Strengthen relationships across non-profit organization, state, local, and territorial homeland security agencies for a whole community approach to preparedness.” 

Nonprofits do not get funded to engage in intelligence and information sharing, interdiction and disruption, election security, border crisis response and enforcement. Rather, the physical security protections, planning, training and exercises, and contracted security that nonprofits carry out through the NSGP program address one priority area: “Enhancing the protection of soft targets and crowded places.” The specific eligible funding is enumerated by Approved Equipment List (AEL) Code, Tite, and Description. None of the approved investments advance any other NPA.

This should clarify what is required and expected of the NSGP applicants through the FY 25 NSGP NOFO.

II. Immigration and DHS/FEMA Terms and Conditions

Anti-Discrimination
 
The current Terms and Conditions, as written, apply to all federal awards of federal financial assistance for which the federal award date occurs in FY 2025, including nonprofit recipients of Nonprofit Security Grant Program awards. In fact, the FY 2025 NSGP Notice of Funding Opportunity states, “A recipient under this funding opportunity must comply with the DHS Standard Terms and Conditions in effect as of the date of the federal award.”
 
Of concern are new “Anti-Discrimination” terms and conditions that are included that provide (and I paraphrase):
 
Recipients must comply with all applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws material to the government’s payment decisions and in accepting the grant award, they certify that:  

1. Their programs and services do not and will not, during the term of this award, advance or promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) of violations of Federal anti-discrimination laws; 
2. They do not engage in and will not during the term of this award engage in a discriminatory prohibited boycott; and 
3. They do not, and will not during the term of this award, operate any program that benefits illegal immigrants or incentivizes illegal immigration.  

Under these terms and conditions, DHS reserves the right to suspend payments in whole or in part and/or terminate financial assistance awards if DHS determines that the recipient violated any of these provisions and has the right to seek a return of the funds received by the recipient.
 
Communication and Cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration Officials 

In addition to the Anti-Discrimination provisions, there other DHS Terms and Conditions pertaining to “Communication and Cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration Officials,” which apply to State and local recipients, as well as subrecipients – such as subrecipients of the NSGP program.
In summary, these terms and conditions: 

1. Require recipients to share information with (and cannot prohibit the sharing of information from) DHS regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual; 
2. Prohibit recipients from encouraging or inducing an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States in violation of law; 
3. Honor requests for cooperation, such as participation in joint operations, sharing of information, or requests for short term detention of an alien pursuant to a valid detainer; 
4. Provide access to detainees, such as when an immigration officer seeks to interview a person who might be a removable alien; and  
5. Desist from leaking or publicizing the existence of an immigration enforcement operation. 

If enforceable, I expect that these new terms and conditions could impact a segment of the faith-based community and nonprofit sector. As with ALL aspects of the NSGP grant application and post-award processes, it is incumbent upon nonprofit and faith-based sub-applicants/award subrecipients to seek guidance from their respective State Administrative Agencies on what, when, and how conditions will apply and be enforced.

But legality and enforcement, at least with respect to immigration, are NOW open questions.

III. Legal Challenges to the FY 2025 Immigration Terms and Conditions

There has been a recent legal challenge from several states to DHS inserting the immigration terms into awards letters as conditions for receiving federal disaster relief.

In late September, a senior Federal District Court judge granted a motion made by 20 States for a permanent injunction against the Department of Homeland Security immigration terms and conditions, calling them “coercive, ambiguous, unrelated to the purpose of the federal grants, and undermine[s] the system of federalism.” Among them, the ruling covers the discretionary preparedness grant programs. NSGP was specifically mentioned within the order as a covered program.

This week, in an additional order, the judge added further restrictions against the administration’s attempts to skirt the initial order through a new condition.

The latest order bars FEMA from enforcing the contested conditions and “any materially similar term requiring cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.” It further orders FEMA to “amend all award documents” to remove all mention of compliance with immigration law from award letters to localities.

For the States and localities – the State Administrative Agencies and the NSGP (and other) preparedness grant program applicants (and future award recipients), the court orders are welcome news. I hope that they will survive any appeal. Thus far, no appeal has been mentioned or filed. This, of course, could change on this contentious issue.

In the meantime, despite the legal reprieve on immigration, the FY 2025 NSGP application and awards processes remain murky, incomplete, undirected, and uncertain, including as they pertain to the enforcement of the DEI and other anti-discrimination provisions within the DHS Terms and Conditions that remain in effect.

All I can advise is for nonprofit sub-applicants to connect and stay in touch with their SAAs and to follow their lead on all guidance matters pertaining to the NSGP program.

I will continue to report what I know, as well.

Best,

Rob Goldberg
Principal
Goldberg & Associates, LLC
In partnership with Sphere State 

The post Immigration Enforcement and Nonprofit Security Grant Applicants appeared first on Sphere State Group.

My sources tell me that ALL FY 2025 preparedness grant awards to the States and Territories have been made.
This means the award amounts for these programs have been uploaded to FEMA’s grants management system for States and Territories to accept.

The States and Territories have up to a few weeks to accept the awards within the grants management system.

For the FY 2025 NSGP program, the Notice of Funding Opportunity that was published in August included “target” allocation amounts for both the NSGP-Urban Area Security Initiative and the NSGP-State grant opportunities.

However, the final awards could remain at the target levels or could be more or less than what was projected in the NOFO.

Only the State Administrative Agencies (SAAs) will be able to inform interested nonprofits of the amounts and to provide additional guidance.

In speaking with contacts, I have also learned a number of key details about what comes next with respect to the application and award processes.

First, FEMA has advised the State Administrative Agencies on any outstanding instructions and tools required of the SAA to completely execute the application process, except as discussed below.

The SAA have received a proposed deadline of “no less than 30 days and no more than 60 days” to submit application recommendations to the SAA. A deadline will soon be set. For now, the SAAs have a working timeframe with which to plan and execute.

We can generally expect the SAAs will be required to submit recommendations before the end of the 2025 calendar year. The SAAs, as in the past, will set a date by which the nonprofits will be required to submit their sub-applications to the SAAs, which can vary from state-to-state, territory, and local jurisdiction.

Only new applications will be eligible to be funded. FEMA will not accept previously submitted applications, such as unfunded FY 2024 or National Security Supplemental (NSS) applications.

It is further expected that FEMA will have between 30-60 days to review and conduct its due diligence on the application submissions and make award recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security for final approval.

We can, therefore, anticipate the SAAs will be granted approval to execute on the applications awarded sometime during the early part of the year (perhaps February-March 2026).

One open issue: Whether, as we experienced with the final award determinations for the NSS program and the release of the FY 2025 NSGP NOFO, will final approval be held up or delayed by the Homeland Security Secretary?

We shall see.

Best,
Rob Goldberg
Principal
Goldberg & Associates, LLC
In partnership with Sphere State

The post Key Details Emerge re the FY 2025 NSGP Grant Guidance & Timelines appeared first on Sphere State Group.

Yesterday, two days before the start of the new fiscal year (FY 2026), the Department of Homeland Security released an alert that the Secretary of Homeland Security determined nearly 3.5 billion in Emergency Preparedness Grants (and additional non-disaster grant programs) FEMA will administer to states and localities.

The announcement pertained to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program along with:

• Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (including AFG, FP&S, SAFER) 

• Emergency Management Grant Program 

• Intercity Bus Security Grant Program 

• Intercity Passenger Rail Program 

• Homeland Security Grant Program (including UASI, OPSG, SHSP) 

• Port Security Grant Program 

• Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program 

• State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program 

• Transit Security Grant Program 

• Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program 

• Tribal Cybersecurity Grant Program 

 
The announcement stated the funds will enhance the security of churches and other nonprofits, among the benefits to communities to increase their resilience to threats.

The notification provided no further specifics on the funding results or on any program-related application guidance. These actions may “obligate” the funds before the expiration of the fiscal year, but whether the State Administrative Agencies (SAAs) have all that they need to proceed with the NSGP application process remains to be seen.

For those of you applying or intending to apply for the FY 2025 Nonprofit Security Grant Program, I recommend reaching out to your designated SAAs for further guidance.

Best,
Rob Goldberg
Principal
Goldberg & Associates, LLC
In partnership with Sphere State

The post DHS Makes Announcement on FY25 NSGP/Preparedness Grant Awards appeared first on Sphere State Group.

Yesterday, two days before the start of the new fiscal year (FY 2026), the Department of Homeland Security released an alert that the Secretary of Homeland Security determined nearly 3.5 billion in Emergency Preparedness Grants (and additional non-disaster grant programs) FEMA will administer to states and localities.

The announcement pertained to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program along with:

• Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (including AFG, FP&S, SAFER) 

• Emergency Management Grant Program 

• Intercity Bus Security Grant Program 

• Intercity Passenger Rail Program 

• Homeland Security Grant Program (including UASI, OPSG, SHSP) 

• Port Security Grant Program 

• Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program 

• State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program 

• Transit Security Grant Program 

• Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program 

• Tribal Cybersecurity Grant Program 

 
The announcement stated the funds will enhance the security of churches and other nonprofits, among the benefits to communities to increase their resilience to threats.

The notification provided no further specifics on the funding results or on any program-related application guidance. These actions may “obligate” the funds before the expiration of the fiscal year, but whether the State Administrative Agencies (SAAs) have all that they need to proceed with the NSGP application process remains to be seen.

For those of you applying or intending to apply for the FY 2025 Nonprofit Security Grant Program, I recommend reaching out to your designated SAAs for further guidance.

Best,
Rob Goldberg
Principal
Goldberg & Associates, LLC
In partnership with Sphere State

The post DHS Makes Announcement on FY25 NSGP/Preparedness Grant Awards appeared first on Sphere State Group.