FBI identifies 'source' of threat to synagogues in New Jersey

Less than 24 hours after the FBI warned of a “broad threat" to synagogues in New Jersey, the agency said in a brief statement Friday morning that it had identified the source of the threat "who no longer poses a danger to the community."

A spokesperson for the FBI's Newark office would not comment beyond the agency's statement, which did not say whether anyone had been taken into custody.

"As always, we would like to remind the public to remain vigilant and if they observe suspicious activity to report it to law enforcement immediately," the statement said.

State officials confirmed they had been told by the FBI that the threat had been “mitigated.”

“While this specific threat may be mitigated, we know this remains a tense time for our Jewish communities who are facing a wave of anti-Semitic activity. We will not be indifferent. We will remain vigilant,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement. “We will take any and every threat with the utmost seriousness and we will stand up and stand shoulder to shoulder with our Jewish congregations.”

New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said in a separate statement that even though the threat "has been mitigated, we know that others may follow and we know that hate continues to fester. We also know that we can stop it. This is how we stand-up to hate. We stand together.”

The FBI issued a stark warning Thursday afternoon that it had received "credible information" about a "broad threat" to synagogues throughout New Jersey, prompting law enforcement across the state to increase patrols in “sensitive areas ... in an abundance of caution.”

State Sen. Jon Bramnick tweeted Friday that he was on a conference call with the FBI and the Attorney General’s Office where he learned the FBI “located the individual who was apparently making threats against the Jewish community.”

The New York Times reported that a federal official told law enforcement and Jewish leaders during that call that the FBI had identified a man living in New Jersey with “radical extremist views.”

“He expressed radical, extremist views and ideology, as well as an extreme amount of hate against the Jewish community,” James E. Dennehy, the special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s Newark office, said during the call, the Times reported.

Dennehy reportedly said on the call that "it doesn’t appear there are others who pose a threat to Jewish synagogues affiliated with this subject of interest."

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said in a brief phone interview Friday that he has been in contact with Murphy, the FBI and local law enforcement about the threat. Gottheimer said he was at a synogogue in North Jersey early Friday morning to pray and "to make it very clear that with the congregants there, and to the community that we will not cower, that religious freedom is a core part of our democracy that our forefathers fought for."

"We will not allow lawless, antisemitic terroristic thugs to prevent people in the community from being safe and praying," Gottheimer said.

Antisemitic incidents have been on the rise in recent years, hitting an all-time high in 2021, according to data from the Anti-Defamation League.

A study released in April by the ADL reported the overall number of antisemitic incidents in New Jersey rose by 25 percent last year, reaching 370. The total is the most ever recorded in New Jersey since the ADL began tracking such incidents in 1979.