Police are looking for a man who threw a Molotov cocktail at a New Jersey temple early Sunday morning.
The man threw the flammable device at the front door of Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, a township about 7 miles north of Newark, at about 3:19 a.m., Bloomfield police said.
Security video showed him lighting the device, throwing it at the door and fleeing down the driveway, authorities said, adding that the glass bottle broke but did not damage the building.
Police responded to the temple at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday after a report of property damage.
Bloomfield detectives are investigating alongside local prosecutors, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, authorities said.
Temple Ner Tamid officials were not immediately available for comment.
This is reported by NBC New YorkTemple rabbi Marc Katz said in a statement: “We have and will continue to do everything in our power to keep our community safe. Everything worked as it should. Our cameras recorded the incident and our unbreakable doors held. But what I can’t do is convince our community not to get discouraged. There is hate everywhere and hate wins when we let it sink in.”
Katz told the station that the temple recently upgraded its security with a grant from the state’s Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.
Police in Livingston, a township about 15 miles west of Bloomfield, said Sunday they increasingly conducted patrols at local temples “and will continue to do so until more information is obtained.”
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said in a statement that his office was aware of both that attempted attack and another at a Monmouth County church on Saturday, which they are investigating “as possibly bias-motivated,” he said.
It was not immediately clear whether there was a connection between the incidents.
“Let me be clear: there is no place for violence or hatred in New Jersey and I strongly condemn these acts,” Democratic Governor Phil Murphy tweeted.
Bloomfield Mayor Michael Venezia said further Facebook“Hate and anti-Semitism will not be tolerated and have no place in our hospitable community. Our thoughts and prayers are with our entire Jewish community.”
The Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey also condemned the attempted attack in a statement, noting it comes at a time of rising anti-Semitism and just a few months after the FBI warned of threats to New Jersey synagogues.
The FBI later said it had identified the source of the threat and the person no longer poses a threat. The man, Omar Alkattoul, 18, of Sayreville, was arrested and charged with conveying a threat in interstate and foreign commerce. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, officials said.
“We urge our leaders and community partners to speak out against this outrageous act and ask all communities to remain vigilant, although we have not been made aware of any additional threat to Jewish institutions in New Jersey at this time.” according to the Anti-Defamation League. of New York and New Jersey said in its statement.
A study the organization published last spring found a 27% increase in anti-Semitic propaganda in 2021 compared to 2020. More recently, several companies cut ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, after he made a series of anti-Semitic remarks.
Ye’s comments seemed to inspire other anti-Semitic incidents, including an anti-Semitic hate group that put up a banner reading “Kanye was right” over a Los Angeles freeway in October and an attack on an elderly man in New York City’s Central Park, which the attacker had with him. while saying “Kanye 2024” and antisemitic remarks. Police afterwards identified the suspect in the latest incident as Perin Jacobchuk.