April 19, 2020 By Dr. Mark Pitcavage On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb in front of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The blast destroyed the building, killing 168 men, women and children and injuring hundreds more. Twenty-five years later, the Oklahoma City bombing remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in American history.  McVeigh and his accomplice, Terry Nichols, were not part of any large, well-funded terrorist organization; they…

March 27, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 An apparent white supremacist suspected of plotting to attack a Missouri hospital caring for coronavirus patients was killed during a shootout with FBI agents, authorities said Wednesday. Brenton Tarrant, the man accused of killing 51 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand last year, has pleaded guilty. The Attorney General of New York has launched a hotline for people to report hate crimes and biased incidents against Asian-Americans…

November 08, 2019 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 An avowed white supremacist in Colorado was arrested after federal investigators uncovered a plot to bomb an historic synagogue. Campus officials at East Tennessee University are opening an investigation after signs saying “It’s okay to be white”— a popular white supremacist slogan — appeared around campus. A man in Milwaukee is facing felony hate-crime charges for allegedly throwing acid on a Latino man because of his…

November 05, 2019 Update: February 26, 2021: A federal court sentenced Richard Holzer to 19.5 years in prison.  Update: October 15, 2020:  The Justice Department announced that Richard Holzer, 28, pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and explosives charges for plotting to blow up the Temple Emanuel Synagogue in Pueblo, Colorado. According to a DOJ press release, Holzer faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the hate crime charge…

October 10, 2019 On Yom Kippur, the holiest day of Jewish calendar, the synagogue in Halle, Germany was attacked.  A terrorist with a shotgun tried unsuccessfully to enter the synagogue, where approximately 80 congregants were worshiping.  After his failed attempt at the synagogue, he began shooting at nearby individuals, killing two people and wounding two others, none of whom were affiliated with the synagogue. According to news reports, Stephan Balliet, a 27-year-old German…

August 23, 2019 THE WEEK'S BIG 3 President Trump accused Jews who vote for Democrats of having “great disloyalty” – invoking a centuries old anti-Semitic trope. An avowed white nationalist was arrested for threatening to attack a Jewish community center in Youngstown, OH. And in California, members of a high school water polo team were seen on video giving the Nazi salute and singing a Nazi song. Read on for more on these headlines, news you can use to fight hate, and…

August 16, 2019 THE WEEK'S BIG 3 A man in southern Nevada was arrested after investigators uncovered his plot to attack an LGBTQ nightclub, a local synagogue and the regional ADL office with firearms and explosives. A white supremacist group distributed anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic fliers at Seattle-area synagogues as part of a coordinated propaganda effort. And over 100 tires were slashed in a predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in NJ. Read on for more on these headlines,…

August 02, 2019 THE WEEK'S BIG 3 A new report from ADL reveals extremist items, including those promoting white supremacy, are widely available for purchase on Amazon, despite the company’s terms of service against such products. The alleged gunman responsible for killing three at a California food festival promoted a book cited by white supremacists on social media shortly before opening fire. The NonProfit Times is out with their annual “Power and Influence Top 50,”…

April 12, 2019 THE WEEK'S BIG 3 Congress holds a hearing on the growing threat posed by white nationalism and increase in hate crimes; anti-vaccination advocates are misappropriating Holocaust imagery to push their agenda; and Airbnb reneges on its decision to de-list properties in the West Bank. Read on for more on these headlines, news you can use to fight hate this week, and the latest info about ADL around the country.   1 A Flood Online of Hate Speech Greets…

December 17, 2018 FBI agents and Snohomish County deputies arrested a Washington state white supremacist last week for allegedly making threats to carry out mass killings of Jews and other minorities.  Dakota Reed, 20, of Monroe, Washington, was charged with malicious harassment—Washington’s hate crime statute—and making bomb threats.  Authorities also seized a cache of firearms, ammunition and white supremacist propaganda from Reed’s residence. The…

November 14, 2018 “HIAS [Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society] likes to bring invaders in that kill our people,” declared the post on the social media site Gab, “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered.  Screw your optics, I’m going in.”  Just minutes later, Robert Bowers, who is believed to be the author of that post, entered the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and opened fire on congregants, allegedly shouting &ldquo…

May 25, 2018 In the weeks since the U.S. embassy was relocated to Jerusalem, foreign terror organizations have rejected the relocation and called on followers to attack the United States, Israel, and Jews around the world. Additionally, they have accused the United States and Israel of violating international law, perhaps in an effort to enhance their own political legitimacy. Statements Calling for Violence against Jews: On Thursday, May 17, the Liwa al-Tawhid Brigades, also known…

April 10, 2018 In preparation for the Qatari Emir’s visit today to Washington, the White House announced last week that President Trump thanked the monarch by phone for his country’s “continuing commitment” to countering extremism. However, in the last year Qatar’s government has actually continued to use its prominent platforms to promote strident anti-Semitic preachers, a practice President Trump and Congressional leaders should raise with the Qatari Emir Tamim…