Uncategorized
2 arrested at Penn Station after NYPD and FBI investigate threat to NYC synagogues
This is a developing story.
(New York Jewish Week) — Two men were arrested on Saturday at Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan for what the New York Police Department called “a developing threat to the Jewish community.”
One of the men had traveled to New York City after posting on social media that he might “shoot up a synagogue and die,” law enforcement sources told local and national media organizations. Officers seized weapons, including an illegal firearm and a large hunting knife; ammunition; and a Nazi armband apparently belonging to the suspects, according to the reports.
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell announced the arrests in a statement, in which she said the police department was strategically deploying resources to “sensitive locations” throughout the city due to the threat.
Sewell said the NYPD and FBI had worked together to swiftly “gather information, identify those behind it and operationally neutralize their ability to do harm.”
The NYPD had alerted officers late Friday to be on the lookout for Christopher Brown, 22, noting that he had a history of mental illness, had made threats to synagogues and that “should be considered armed and dangerous.”
The alert said Brown had indicated online that he was interested in traveling from his home in Aquebogue, Long Island, to New York City in order to purchase a weapon.
Sewell said that officers patrolling Penn Station noticed Brown early on Saturday and arrested him, along with a second man, Matthew Mahler of Manhattan. Brown is being charged with making a terroristic threat, aggravated harassment and criminal possession of a weapon, the NYPD said, while Mahler is being charged with possessing a weapon.
“Today, we’re extremely grateful to NYPD investigators and our law enforcement partners who uncovered and stopped a threat to our Jewish community,” Sewell tweeted. “This morning’s arrests in Penn Station and weapon seizures are proof of their vigilance & collaboration that keeps New Yorkers safe.”
The arrests come just weeks after the FBI warned synagogues in New Jersey about a “credible threat” made to them; the NYPD heightened security at city synagogues as a precaution. The FBI later announced that a 19-year-old man who said he had sworn allegiance to ISIS had been arrested for making the threat.
The arrests also come a time of heightened anxiety about antisemitism in New York City and beyond. The NYPD has recorded an increase in the number of antisemitic incidents reported to it, a trend that matches tallies released by cities and countries around the world in the last year. Meanwhile, celebrities Kanye West and Kyrie Irving have ignited concerns about antisemitism with their comments and tweets, and turmoil at Twitter has fueled a rise in hate posts, including about Jews, according to watchdogs who monitor the social media platform.
Brown had begun tweeting about shooting up a synagogue on Nov. 12, according to CNN’s report about the New York City arrests.
The Community Security Service, a Jewish security nonprofit organization, released a statement late Saturday saying that it had been in contact with federal and local law enforcement agencies over the past day.
“As always, we ask the community to remain vigilant, but no further immediate community actions are needed at this time,” the statement said.
—
The post 2 arrested at Penn Station after NYPD and FBI investigate threat to NYC synagogues appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Exclusive: Israeli Officials Harshly Critical of Steve Witkoff’s Influence on US Policy on Gaza, Iran, i24NEWS Told
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Amid growing disagreements with the Trump administration over the composition of the Board of Peace for Gaza and the question of a strike on Iran, officials in Israel point to a key figure behind decisions seen as running counter to Israeli interests: Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
The officials mention sustained dissatisfaction with Witkoff. Sources close to the PM Netanyahu told i24NEWS on Saturday evening: “For several months now, the feeling has been that envoy Steve Witkoff has strong ties, for his own reasons, across the Middle East, and that at times the Israeli interest does not truly prevail in his decision-making.”
This criticism relates both to the proposed inclusion of Turkey and Qatar in Gaza’s governing bodies and to the Iranian threat. A senior Israeli official put it bluntly: “If it turns out that he is among those blocking a strike on Iran, that is far more than a coincidence.”
Uncategorized
EU Warns of Downward Spiral After Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Greenland
European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on June 17, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Yves Herman
European Union leaders on Saturday warned of a “dangerous downward spiral” over US President Donald Trump‘s vow to implement increasing tariffs on European allies until the US is allowed to buy Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Antonio Costa said in posts on X.
The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said tariffs would hurt prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, while distracting the EU from its “core task” of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among allies,” Kallas said on X.
“Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity. If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO.”
Ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 countries will convene on Sunday for an emergency meeting to discuss their response to the tariff threat.
Uncategorized
Israel Says US Gaza Executive Board Composition Against Its Policy
FILE PHOTO: Displaced Palestinians shelter at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer/File Photo
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that this week’s Trump administration announcement on the composition of a Gaza executive board was not coordinated with Israel and ran counter to government policy.
It said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar would raise the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The statement did not specify what part of the board’s composition contradicted Israeli policy. An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment.
The board, unveiled by the White House on Friday, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Israel has repeatedly opposed any Turkish role in Gaza.
Other members of the executive board include Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process; an Israeli‑Cypriot billionaire; and a minister from the United Arab Emirates, which established relations with Israel in 2020.
Washington this week also announced the start of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s plan, announced in September, to end the war in Gaza. This includes creating a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave.
The first members of the so-called Board of Peace – to be chaired by Trump and tasked with supervising Gaza’s temporary governance – were also named. Members include Rubio, billionaire developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.