Picture of the assailant released by the Bloomfield police department. Source: Twitter
New Jersey: Following the Friday attack by an armed assailant on a synagogue in Israel, a masked man was seen throwing a Molotov cocktail at a Jewish place of worship in New Jersey on Sunday.
Securities were beefed up as soon as the footage of the masked man surfaced, authorities claim.
The incident reportedly occurred just after three in the morning, in Essex County. The suspect was seen throwing the flaming bottle towards the entrance of the Bloomfield building before running away on foot.
According to authorities, the bottle exploded upon impact and did not harm the Temple Ner Tamid. The suspect, who was seen in photos released by police wearing a black ski mask, black pants, and a black sweater that appeared to have a white skull and crossbones, is being identified and apprehended.
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin told media that his office is helped the local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies in the arrest. The man was presumed to be a Caucasian.
Platkin asserted that the attacks in Israel have increased the risk of similar attacks in the US.
On Friday night, a shooter opened fire on a crowd in the vicinity of an east Jerusalem synagogue, leaving seven people dead and three more injured. Nine persons were killed in an Israeli military raid in the West Bank the day before to that attack.
According to the police, two more persons were shot on Saturday in Jerusalem.
According to Platkin, an earlier attack on churchgoers in Monmouth County, New Jersey, on Saturday is also known to his office and is being looked into as possible evidence of bias.
He didn’t name the church or provide any other information.
In a statement, he said, “I want to reassure all New Jerseyans that law enforcement continues to take the necessary steps to increase our presence around sensitive places so that everyone in our state can worship, love, and livewithout fear of violence or threats. This goes especially for our friends and neighbours in the Black community and the Jewish faith”.
Anyone with information was urged to come forward by the Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey.
The foundation issued a statement saying, “We urge our leaders and community partners to speak out against this terrible conduct and ask that all communities be watchful, while we have not yet been made aware of any specific additional threats to Jewish institutions in New Jersey.”
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