Ever since the horrific attacks on Israel by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, we’ve witnessed a terrifying and disturbing increase in anti-Semitism and hatred toward Jewish people all across the world, especially here in the United States. We’ve witnessed pro-Palestinian college students take to the streets and spread the false propaganda created by Hamas that spins a narrative of Israel being colonialist invaders. Jews have been physically assaulted by anti-Semites at these events, one individual even dying from the attack. It’s a scary time to be Jewish.
Perhaps the most horrifying example of anti-Semitism to pop up comes from the arrest of a 13-year-old boy who has now been charged with allegedly plotting to carry out a mass shooting at a Jewish synagogue located in Canton, Ohio. Information about the case was gleaned from court documents that were obtained by local news organizations.
The Daily Wire reported:
The alleged threat was first reported to the Stark County Sheriff’s Office on September 1 after the teenage boy allegedly posted his plans to carry out a mass shooting at the Temple Israel on the online chat platform Discord, the court documents showed. The suspect, whose name was not published due to his age, is charged with inducing panic and disorderly conduct, which are both misdemeanors, and he will appear in Stark County Family Court on Wednesday, December 20, WKYC reported.
“(Name redacted) did create a detailed plan to complete a mass shooting at the Temple Israel on the Discord platform which was reported to law enforcement and required an immediate investigatory response and notification of public individuals and agencies including the school system in which caused significant public alarm within those agencies,” the court documents go on to reveal.
The Stark County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation into the alleged plans of the teenager. The Anti-Defamation League Cleveland thanked law enforcement officials for their work on the case, saying it is “horrified” by the alleged plans of the teenager to target Jews.
Reports of anti-Semitic hate crimes have skyrocketed in the U.S. and other Western countries after Hamas carried out a brutal attack on Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,200 people and kidnapping hundreds of others.
In the later part of the month of October, Christopher Wray issued a warning that anti-Semitic behavior was reaching “historic levels” in the U.S., revealing that a staggering 60 percent of religious hate crimes happening in the nation targeted Jews.
“The Jewish community is targeted by terrorists really across the spectrum,” Wray said while providing testimony before a Senate panel, going on to add, “This is not a time for panic, but it is a time for vigilance. We shouldn’t stop conducting our daily lives – going to schools, houses of worship, and so forth – but we should be vigilant.”
Just last week, law enforcement officials responded to another situation where Jews were being targeted by a male who is alleged to have fired two shots from a shotgun while outside of a synagogue located in New York. What makes the situation even more harrowing is that children were attending preschool inside the building at the time of the shooting.