‘No place for hate’: New Jersey officials send Chanukah message to Jewish community after shootout

“There is no place for hate in New Jersey, and we’re dedicating all our resources possible to try and stop this violence,” the director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security said.

By World Israel News Staff

As Jewish communities worldwide mourn the loss of  four victims in last week’s mass shooting at a Jewish Supermarket, New Jersey Attorney-General Gurbir Grewal and Director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security Jared Maple offered words of support in two separate video messages on Sunday.

The videos were released by the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce.

Standing next to Executive Director of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce Duvi Honig, Grewel stressed that effective communication is the key to keeping communities safe.

“I’m here with the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce to deliver a simple message: that we are here for all of our communities in New Jersey, our faith communities, with the Orthodox Jewish community at this difficult time. The key is to communicate with us, to let us know what’s going on in our communities, so we can help keep all our communities safe in this difficult time,” Grewal said.

Sitting next to Honig in the second video, Maples said that he is determined to stamp out anti-Semitic behavior throughout New Jersey.

“There is no place for hate in New Jersey, and we’re dedicating all our resources possible to try and stop this violence, and to stop the trend of anti-Semitic behavior throughout the United States and certainly New Jersey,” he said.

In response, Honig said “Thank you very much, and we look forward to working together with you and the office to get a sense of security, because the Jewish business districts, the business districts as a whole, we’re very excited and Happy Chanukah.”

In a deadly shooting spree on Dec. 10, Detective Joseph Seals was killed by David Anderson and Francine Graham at the Bay View Cemetery in Jersey City. The men then drove a stolen U-Haul van to another part of the city and engaged police in a lengthy shootout from inside the JC Kosher Supermarket on Martin Luther King Drive.

Three innocent bystanders in the Kosher market were killed on that dreadful day. The victims have been identified as Leah Minda Ferencz, 31, who co-owned the grocery; 24-year-old Moshe Deutsch, a rabbinical student from Brooklyn who was shopping there; and store employee Douglas Miguel Rodriguez, 49.

On Sunday, Ahmed A-Hady, of Keyport, 35, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, after authorities found a note in Anderson’s pocket containing A-Hady’s telephone number and address to his pawnshop.