NEWARK (1010 WINS) -- A New Jersey man was arrested Thursday in connection with last week’s threat that prompted the FBI to issue a warning to synagogues across the state, federal authorities said as a criminal complaint revealed a hate-fueled manifesto.
Omar Alkattoul, 18, of Sayreville, was arrested Thursday morning and charged with one count of transmitting a threat in interstate and foreign commerce.
Alkattoul, who was located and interviewed by authorities last week, was scheduled to appear in Newark federal court Thursday afternoon.
U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said Alkattoul allegedly “used social media to send a manifesto containing a threat to attack a synagogue based on his hatred of Jews.”
Federal, state and local law enforcement, including the Joint Terrorism Task Force, worked together to investigate the threat made last Tuesday.
Last Thursday, the FBI issued an alert saying the agency had “received credible information of a broad threat” to synagogues in New Jersey. “We ask at this time that you take all security precautions to protect your community and facility,” the alert said.
Then on Friday, the FBI said the man behind the threat had been located and that the threat had been mitigated.
Prosecutors allege Alkattoul used a social media app on Nov. 1 to send someone a link to a document he wrote entitled, “When Swords Collide.”
“It’s in the context of an attack on Jews,” Alkattoul allegedly told the person.
At least five other people also received the document via the social media app, prosecutors said.
According to a criminal complaint, Alkattoul allegedly referred to himself as “the attacker” in the document and wrote, “many more attacks like these against the enemy of Allah and the pigs and monkeys will come.”
He allegedly wrote Jews are a “very powerful group in the west,” a view often espoused in antisemitic conspiracy theories. He also accused Jews of supporting “terror” against Muslims, according to the complaint.
“So the motive of this attack is hatred towards Jews,” he allegedly wrote, in part.
The threat led police across New Jersey to increase their presence at synagogues Thursday and Friday. The NYPD said it was involved in the investigation and was working to “ensure the safety and well-being” of Jewish communities.
A law enforcement source told the Associated Press last Friday that investigators don’t believe the person who made the threat had the means or motive to carry out any specific attack.
Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday that while the specific threat had been mitigated, it “remains a tense time for our Jewish communities who are facing a wave of anti-Semitic activity.”
“We will not be indifferent. We will remain vigilant. We will take any and every threat with the utmost seriousness and we will stand up and stand shoulder to shoulder with our Jewish congregations,” the governor said.
The Anti-Defamation League was holding a summit at the Javits Center in Manhattan on Thursday to discuss how to combat rising antisemitism.
Rabbi David Levy, director of American Jewish Committee's office in New Jersey, reacted to the arrest in a statement Thursday.
“There can be no place for threats of violence against houses of worship in our society,” Levy said. “We remain deeply grateful to the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the US Attorney’s Office and other law enforcement agencies for their dedicated and successful response to this threat and the great care they have taken to ensure the safety of the New Jersey Jewish community.”
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