US Jewish security officials call on community to take lessons from Kirk killing

US Jewish security officials warned Monday that the Jewish community should take lessons from the killing of Charlie Kirk, saying that the assassination reflected a heightened national threat environment that impacts the Jewish community.

The assassination was the latest in a string of high-profile acts of violence in the US. Some of the incidents, like the Kirk shooting, were not directly related to Jews, while others, like the murder of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, earlier this year, targeted the Jewish community.

Michael Masters, the head of the Secure Community Network, a group that provides security to Jewish institutions in North America, called on Jews to double down on defensive measures after the Kirk killing.

“The reality is that we have been dealing with threats in a heightened threat environment to the Jewish community for some time,” he said.

He urged Jewish groups to implement event planning with security in mind, such as coordination with law enforcement, monitoring perimeters and lines of sight, and controlling access to events.

Kirk was killed in public, at an outdoor event, by a single shot fired from a distance. The circumstances have raised concerns about security at outdoor events, where attackers can fire shots from far away, outside the event’s bounds.

Ben Shapiro, a prominent Jewish conservative, said on the Honestly podcast last week that “he will never again do an outdoor event.”

“There are too many vantage points,” he said. “We now know that people are legitimately targeting folks for death at these events.”

Masters said that most Jewish community leaders are less high-profile and less of a target than figures like Shapiro, Kirk and US President Donald Trump, who has also been targeted in assassination attempts.

While security needs to be in place, “We cannot be so overly broad as to say no Jewish person should ever be able to do an outdoor event,” Masters said.

He added that the thousands of online posts tying Israel and Jews to Kirk’s assassination marked a “unique impact for the Jewish community.”

“Unfortunately, it takes only one individual that is motivated, enabled, and inspired by that rhetoric to potentially undertake violence,” he said.

SCN has recently released guidance for Jewish groups on how to secure outdoor events and other gatherings.

Richard Priem, the head of the Community Security Service (CSS), a nonprofit that trains volunteers to protect synagogues and Jewish events, said that some conclusions about the Kirk killing will need to wait until more information about the attacker and his methods are available.

CSS is still looking to the shooting for lessons, Priem said, pointing out that Kirk’s alleged killer drove several hours from his home to the event.

“If this person indeed traveled for hours and knew where he was going to position himself to have a clear line of sight, if that’s what the investigation would show, then it’s a reminder to be very careful about what information is publicly available,” he said.

Jewish community organizers should be cautious about advertising events, such as when and where a gathering will take place and what entrances will be used, he added. CSS secured more than 100 Jewish community events last year, many of them outdoors.

The suspect in the firebombing of a rally for the Israeli hostages in Colorado earlier this year, for example, found out about the event online. He disguised himself as a gardener while waiting for the group to assemble, then launched the attack that killed an elderly woman.

Jewish communities in the US have invested heavily in security since the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh killed 11 worshipers. The effort has picked up steam since the surge in antisemitism resulting from the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror invasion of Israel. Community security programs range from online surveillance to a “hardening” of synagogues and krav maga training.

Priem recommended Jewish groups take steps such as making attendees register for an event before disclosing the location and releasing specific details about the gathering shortly before it takes place.

The killing of Kirk played into fears about a broader deterioration in the national climate marked by support for political violence.

At a Tuesday court hearing in New York City for Luigi Mangione, accused of murdering health insurance executive Brian Thompson in December, fans of Mangione gathered outside and in the courtroom.

“I’m not aware of any direct correlation or impact on the Jewish community beyond that it’s a further escalation. It’s another step of the escalation ladder in the polarization in the country, and people turning violent rhetoric into deadly action,” Priem said of Kirk shooting.

A poll last week by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a nonpartisan free speech advocacy group, found that 34 percent of college students said using violence to stop a campus speaker was acceptable. Kirk was killed while speaking at a Utah college campus.

“What the hell are these kids learning in college, that they’re college students, and then they still reach that conclusion?” Masters said.

Some recent attacks, such as many school shootings, the killing of Catholic schoolchildren in Minnesota last month, and an assailant targeting an NFL office in New York City in July, appear to be motivated more by personal circumstances than specific ideology. An investigation into Kirk’s killing will expose more about the assailant’s motivation.

Antisemitic attacks, however, are “almost always driven by an ideology,” Priem said.

The threats come from five directions, he added — the far right, radical Islamic terrorism, the far left, anti-Israel animus, and state-sanctioned threats from actors like Iran.

“Everyone should implement basic security best practices for anything affiliated with the Jewish community. Sadly, that’s the time we live in,” he said.