Authorities warn Jewish communities to be on guard as white supremacist group plans ‘Day of Hate’ this Shabbat.
By Dion J. Pierre, The Algemeiner
Law enforcement agencies in New York City and Chicago issued warnings on Wednesday about the potential for major antisemitic activity planned for this weekend when neo-Nazis will participate in a so-called “national day of hate.”
The neo-Nazi event is being planned by a small white supremacist group from eastern Iowa and has attracted interests from other white supremacist groups across the country, including the National Socialist Movement and the Goyim Defense League (GDL), a white supremacist group whose recent activities include spreading antisemitic flyers at last weekend’ Daytona 500 speedway race, according to information from the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism shared with The Algemeiner.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) Intelligence and Counterterrorism issued a notice about the event to its officers, explaining that the neo-Nazis plan to “photograph or record direct actions and submit them online in order to create a compendium of exploits from around the country.”
It included a screenshot of a post appearing to promote the “day of hate” in which the Jewish community is described as an “enemy of the American people” and “the anti-white establishment.” The post also accuses Jews of being Satanic and called for “white power.”
“While there are no identified threats to New York City, out of an abundance of caution, the department will deploy additional resources to sensitive locations, including houses of worship,” a NYPD spokesperson said on Thursday in a statement.
The Chicago Police Department (CPD) announced Wednesday that “there is no actionable intelligence,” but that law enforcement officials continue to actively monitor the situation and are in communication with the city’s Jewish community.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Department of Homeland Security, and a nonprofit, the Secure Community Network (SCN), are also monitoring the situation, the Orthodox Union, an umbrella Jewish organization, said on Wednesday in an email to its members.
The email urged the Jewish community to “increase their level of vigilance and be in contact with your local law enforcement agencies” and request more security personnel for their synagogues.
Recent, deadly antisemitic hate crimes necessitate heightened concern about this weekend’s event, the Segal noted. Recently, a Los Angeles man shot two Jewish worshipers who were leaving synagogue in the Pico-Robertson section of the city. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) arrested and charged a suspect in the shooting on Thursday.
“We should see this as part of a larger uptick in efforts by white supremacists and antisemites to try to create fear an anxiety,” Oren Segal, vice president of the Center on Extremism, told The Algemeiner Thursday. “We encourage people to contact law enforcement immediately if they’re seeing any activity, to review security protocols, and we encourage everyone not to confront anyone whose distributing propaganda in their communities and to alert law enforcement of what’s happening.”
“The Jewish community feels very vulnerable right now because of the consistent number of incidents that we’re seeing across the country,” Segal added. “Whether its dropping flyers at peoples’ homes — we saw a shooting in Los Angeles, we saw a protest hear in New York. These vicious white supremacist are on an ongoing campaign. We just don’t have the luxury to ignore this activist at any time, especially when they’re letting us know that they may do something on a specific day.”