After deadly shooting, US Jewish security leaders urge vigilance amid threat of copycats
Killings in Washington could inspire other attacks, experts warn, as murders bring threat of far-left violence into focus
Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
WASHINGTON — In 2022, a shooter in Oregon sprayed a Safeway grocery store with an assault rifle, killing an employee and an 84-year-old customer.
His inspiration, he said in a manifesto, was a mass shooting more than 20 years before that has animated a series of deadly attacks since — the Columbine High School massacre that killed 16 people in 1999.
After an attacker killed two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, Jewish security officials fear the shooting could also inspire copycats, and urged the community to double down on security measures.
“Active shooters, individuals that undertake mass attacks, still reference the offenders in that case as inspirers of their activity,” Michael Masters, the head of the Secure Community Network, a Jewish security group, said of Columbine.
“That copycat attack issue is probably first and foremost on our mind,” Masters said. “That is the concern, and it is what I know that we are focused on, other partners are focused on, law enforcement is focused on.”
Jewish intelligence analysts have been monitoring chatter in support of the attack online, including celebrations of the killings and calls for more violence.
“We’ve seen it time and time again where one attack was replicated somewhere else,” said Richard Priem, the CEO of the Community Security Service, a group that trains volunteer synagogue guards.
The Jewish security officials urged caution about drawing conclusions regarding the alleged shooter, Elias Rodriguez, pending an investigation by law enforcement. Questions remain about his method, his connections to others, how he selected his targets, and what went wrong with security at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday night.
What is clear is that the killings should serve as a “wake-up call,” Priem said.
“We cannot rely on others to protect ourselves,” he said. “Vulnerabilities will be exploited, so let’s not wait until the next one.”
Jewish security groups issued a set of recommendations on Thursday, including coordination with law enforcement, screening invitation lists for events, and implementing access control at events.
The US Jewish community has invested heavily in security since a spate of deadly attacks that started with the Tree of Life massacre in 2018, using measures including grants to shore up synagogue security, training in krav maga, setting up intelligence centers, and enlisting guards.
White supremacists were seen as the leading violent threat — the Tree of Life shooter, for example, was a white nationalist inspired by anti-Jewish conspiracy theories.
The killings this week brought the threat from the far left into focus, even if the far right remains a danger. Islamists are another threat.
“I can’t help but think that the persistent demonization of Israelis and Jews, along with the glorification of terrorist organizations, created an environment that made this more likely,” said Oren Segal, the senior vice president of counter-extremism and intelligence at the Anti-Defamation League.
“I don’t think this shooting changes the threat that white supremacists pose. Unfortunately, the Jewish community is under threat from a wide range of bad actors,” he said.
Priem highlighted past terrorism from the far left, such as the Entebbe airplane hijacking in 1976.
“The far left threat has never gone away,” he said. “Al Qaeda, ISIS, state-sponsored terror, Hezbollah, the far right, homegrown extremism. We are getting threats from all angles.”
The shooting came after a series of attempted terror attacks against US Jews that highlighted the array of threats.
In the past year, a neo-Nazi was indicted for planning mass casualty attacks against Jews in New York City; a suspect was arrested in Canada while attempting to travel to New York City to carry out a “mass shooting in support of ISIS” at a Jewish center; and anti-Israel activists dealing with explosives were arrested in Pittsburgh.
“I’m hesitant to put them on a political spectrum, but far left, far right, the hatred itself is very clear. It’s directed at Jews, it’s Jew hate,” Masters said. “The reality of that is the outcome of what we saw yesterday. Dead members of the community who were committed to doing good work and living their lives in peace.”
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