
BLOOMFIELD, N.J. (1010 WINS) — Authorities are investigating after a man threw a Molotov cocktail at the front door of a New Jersey synagogue early Sunday in an apparent arson attempt.
According to Bloomfield Police, it happened when the suspect in a ski mask approached the front door of Temple Ner Tamid on Broad Street at 3:19 a.m. with a Molotov cocktail.
The suspect lit the device and threw it. Police said the glass bottle broke but did not burst into flames or cause any damage to the temple. The suspect then fled down the driveway.
No injuries were reported.
The synagogue is part of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest New Jersey, which announced the incident earlier Sunday without identifying the synagogue or its location.
"Thankfully, the device did not work as intended and as such, the damage was limited," the organization's president, David Saginaw, said in a statement.
Police said Bloomfield detectives, along with the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, were investigating.
The federation said the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security was also involved.
The organization said the incident comes "amidst a climate of intimidation and intolerance, and a rising tide of anti-Jewish hate crimes and hate speech against Jews."
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement Sunday that his office was "also aware of the attack on members of a church in Monmouth County that occurred on Saturday – another incident being pursued as potentially bias-motivated."
"I want to reassure all New Jerseyans – especially our friends and neighbors of the Black community and the Jewish faith that law enforcement continues to take the appropriate steps to increase our presence around sensitive places so that everyone in our state can worship, love, and live without fear of violence or threat," Platkin added.
Bloomfield Police asked anyone with information on the incident to call the Detective Bureau at 973-680-4084 or email any videos todetectives@bloomfieldnjpd.com.