The Jewish Federation of San Antonio urged synagogues and Jewish organizations to cancel events Saturday after they said they received a warning from the FBI about a “potential threat to an unconfirmed Jewish facility in the San Antonio area.”
In a statement, the FBI said it is investigating the credibility of a potential threat against an “unidentified” Texas synagogue.
“We are working to determine the credibility of the threat and sharing information with our law enforcement partners and our partners in the Jewish community,” the FBI said.
“After communicating with all local synagogues and organizations, it was recommended that all formal Jewish gatherings be suspended until further notice,” a statement from the Jewish Federation said.
Temple Beth-El posted a statement on its Facebook page announcing Shabbat services were canceled Saturday both in-person and online.
“We have received information from our experts that the safety situation for the Jewish synagogues in San Antonio today is not optimal for us to conduct our regularly scheduled Shabbat services,” according to Temple Beth-El’s statement.
In a statement, the Anti-Defamation League said it is working closely with the San Antonio Jewish Federation. “ADL has been in close contact with federal, state, and local law enforcement in Texas for more than 72 hours around a series of threats targeting a Texas synagogue,” according to the statement. “In the past 24 hours, we received notice of a more specific and credible threat. We will continue to closely monitor and share relevant updates with all our Jewish communal partners.”
The San Antonio Police Department told CNN they are in communication with the San Antonio Division of the FBI and deferred all inquiries to them.
Speaking to CNN’s Evan Perez on Friday, FBI Director Christopher Wray said they are seeing an increase in threats against the Jewish community.
“We are working more and more closely than ever all across the country because we recognize that they are increasingly the targets of violent extremism from all manner of views and ideologies, and it’s gotta stop,” he said. “We’re not going to tolerate it and we’re going to stand with the Jewish community.”
