Hoboken, N.J.: The FBI said on Thursday it had received credible information about a “broad” threat to synagogues in New Jersey, a warning that promoted some municipalities to send extra police officers to guard houses of worship.
The nature of the threat was vague. The FBI’s Newark office released a statement urging synagogues to “take all security precautions to protect your community and facility,” but wouldn’t say anything about who made the threat or why.
The alert was posted after officials discovered an online threat directed broadly at synagogues in New Jersey, a law enforcement official said. The posting did not target any specific synagogue by name, the official said.
In Jersey City, Mayor Steven Fulop said police would be posted at the city’s seven synagogues and foot patrols would be added in the broader Jewish community. In 2019, two assailants motivated by anti-Jewish hate killed a police officer, then drove to a kosher market in Jersey City and killed three more people, before being slain in a gun battle with police.