Shawn Brokos

We are working closely with our university public safety departments as we anticipate anti-Israel protests with the return of students to local college campuses.

On Monday, Chabad of Squirrel Hill, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and two Squirrel Hill residences were targeted with threatening antisemitic graffiti. Local, state and federal law enforcement are actively investigating. Please know that there are no known threats of violence at this time.

On Tuesday, July 23, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) security grant opened offering a possibility of $10M in grants to secure houses of worship and nonprofits that are vulnerable to hate crimes and terrorist attacks.

As we approach back to school, student safety is paramount. Please consider joining our free Countering Active Threat and Defensive Tactics Training on Thursday, July 25 from 6-9 PM at the JCC in Squirrel Hill led by Dave Wright from Wright’s Gym. This event is geared towards college and/or high school students but is open to all.

Tree of Life Synagogue received an on-line hoax bomb threat on July 2nd. The hoax threat is in line with other hoax threats that we have seen targeting Jewish organizations across the country. FBI and Pittsburgh Police are investigating.

Through state grant funding, we will now be able to install the BluePoint Emergency Alert System in 13 more Jewish locations. The installation will take several months to complete. When finalized, there will be 33 Jewish locations online with BluePoint.

Please be aware of road closures due to the Sunday, June 23 Tree of Life, Inc. groundbreaking ceremony at Shady and Wilkins.

With the uptick in graffiti and antisemitic incidents please consider joining the Jewish Federation’s Virtual Block Watch Program. The program is entirely voluntary and is designed to keep our community safe through collaboration.

The defense team in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial has filed its notice to appeal the conviction and sentence.

With the uptick in graffiti and antisemitic incidents please consider joining the Jewish Federation’s Virtual Block Watch Program, a volunteer network that can be called upon to provide residential or business video surveillance footage to help prevent, deter, and possibly solve crimes.

William Murray was arrested yesterday for Ethnic Intimidation relating to the alleged hate symbol he drew at the entrance of Shaare Torah. At this time, we do not have reason to believe he poses a threat to our community.

An individual has been charged with the theft of multiple “We Stand with Israel” street signs in Squirrel Hill.

In many instances across the country, professional protestors are leading these efforts, and the rhetoric and actions continue to be concerning for Jewish students and the Jewish community-at-large.

The Schenley Plaza encampment was completely disbanded on April 29.

University of Pittsburgh was one of 33 universities engaging in anti-Israel protests. The protest initially started on Tuesday, April 23rd on Pitt’s campus but the students were then moved to Schenley Plaza with the agreement that they will vacate today.

This week, several Pittsburgh-area synagogues received threatening messages online. We then saw some Catholic organizations and other faith-based groups receive similar messaging. FBI Pittsburgh is investigating. These are separate and apart from the hoax bomb threats mentioned in last week’s newsletter.

Several Jewish organizations throughout Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, were targeted with hoax bomb threats this week.

SCN urges the American Jewish community to expand its vigilance and preparation to prevent attacks while encouraging Jewish facilities to remain open.

YTD 2024, the Jewish Federation has logged 73 incidents in our Virtual Command Center. This compares to 23 YTD 2023. We remain in a heightened threat environment and are working closely with law enforcement to monitor potential threat activity.

If you have been a victim of cyber-enabled fraud, please let us know and we can help guide you on what to do.