NEWS
FBI Director Wray Says Antisemitism In The US Has Reached ‘Historic’ Levels
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FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the Senate on Tuesday, warning that violent extremists in the United States may draw inspiration from events in the Middle East to carry out attacks on Jewish and Muslim Americans.
Our most immediate concern is that violent extremists — individuals or small groups — will draw inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks against Americans going about their daily lives, Wray said during his testimony at the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing.
That includes not just homegrown violent extremists inspired by a foreign terrorist organization but also domestic violent extremists targeting Jewish or Muslim communities, Wray said.
Weve seen that already with the individual we arrested last week in Houston, whod been studying how to build bombs and posted online about his support for killing Jews. And with the tragic killing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois in what were investigating as a federal hate crime, Wray said.
Although violence is ramping up against both Jewish and Muslim Americans, Wray noted that antisemitism in the U.S. has reached historic levels.
“In fact, our statistics would indicate that for a group that represents only about 2.4% of the American public, they account for something like 60% of all religious-based hate crimes,” Wray said of the Jewish population in the U.S.
“We shouldnt stop conducting our daily lives — going to schools, houses of worship, and so forth — but we should be vigilant, Wray said.
“You often hear the expression if you see something, say something – thats never been more true than now,” Wray said. “And thats probably partly why the American people are reporting more tips and leads to us, and were pursuing those threats and leads as vigorously and responsibly as we can.
Wray said the FBI is working with federal, state, and local partners through the agency’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces to track threats to the Jewish and Muslim communities.
On Monday, the Biden administration announced increased efforts by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate with campus police at colleges and universities to address reports of antisemitic and Islamophobic threats. The White House said the Department of Education is also making it easier for students who experience antisemitism or Islamophobia to file a complaint under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
TMX contributed to this article.
