New Jersey

A New Jersey man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for a series of carjackings and violent assaults against Orthodox Jewish men on April 8, 2022.

According to evidence, the defendant stole two vehicles and violently assault and attempted to run down and murder three pedestrians with the stolen vehicles. All five victims were targeted for their outwardly religious dress and appearance, and each suffered severe injuries including several broken bones.

Sentencing:  https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-sentenced-series-violent-assaults-members-orthodox-jewish-community

Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-pleads-guilty-series-violent-assaults-members-orthodox-jewish-community

Charges: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/ocean-county-man-charged-federal-hate-crimes-series-violent-assaults-members-orthodox

Criminal Complaint: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/press-release/file/1495646/download

A New Jersey man was charged with posting threats to attack white people on social media.

In December of 2022, the defendant posted a long message on social media saying he wanted to “erase” white people. In the post, he claimed he already chose a place to attack and obtained two firearms he planned to use in the attack. In the months that followed, the defendant continued to post violent threats on social media, idealizing a mass shooting and expressing hopes to “progress into a serial killer.”

In statements to law enforcement, the defendant admitted to writing the posts and provided detailed information on locations he had considered as possible targets for his attack, including a Jersey Strong gym and an Aldi grocery store in Robbinsville, New Jersey.

The defendant faces up to five years in prison.

Charges: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/mercer-county-man-charged-communicating-threats-attack-white-people

A New Jersey man was charged with a federal hate crime for breaking into the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University (CILRU) and destroying religious artifacts.

According to reports, on April 10, during the Eid-al-Fitr holiday, the defendant broke into CILRU a destroyed their property, including several religious artifacts such as prayer stones and items with holy language from Islamic scripture. The defendant was also said to have stolen a Palestinian flag and a charity box belonging to the CILRU.

Charges: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-charged-federal-hate-crime-breaking-center-islamic-life-rutgers-university

A New Jersey man has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after he posted a manifesto online threatening to attack a synagogue and Jewish people.

According to evidence, on November 1, 2022, the defendant used social media to share a document he wrote titled, “When Swords Collide.” In the document, he admitted to targeting a synagogue, providing that “It’s in the context of an attack on Jews.” He used the document to threaten at least five people on social media.

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/middlesex-county-man-sentenced-15-months-prison-communicating-threats-attack-synagogue

Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/middlesex-county-man-admits-communicating-threats-attack-synagogue

A New Jersey man admitted posting an online manifesto threatening to attack a synagogue and Jewish people.

On November 1, 2022, the defendant wrote and used social media to share a document entitled “When Swords Collide.” In this document, he admitted targeting a synagogue, providing that “It’s in the context of an attack on Jews.” He used the document to threaten at least five people on social media.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/middlesex-county-man-admits-communicating-threats-attack-synagogue

A man in New Jersey allegedly went to a synagogue in the middle of the night and maliciously attempted to damage and destroy it using a firebomb.

Surveillance footage shows the defendant walking up to the Temple Ner Tamid Jewish Congregation in Bloomfield, New Jersey and igniting a wick on the top of a bottle. He then threw the bottle at the front glass doors of the temple and fled on foot.

The defendant has been charged with one count of attempted use of fire to damage and destroy a building used in interstate commerce. He faces a up to 20 years in prison.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/passaic-county-man-arrested-attempt-firebomb-synagogue

A New Jersey man was sentenced for using an anonymizing text message service to threaten physical harm to a Black woman and her family in Maryland.

According to the plea, on April 14, 2020, the man began sending threatening messages, including racial epithets, to describe the Maryland woman and her family. He threatened to come to their home and harm them. The defendant wrote, among other things, that “I know where you live now, I’m coming to rape your family” and “eat my bullets.”

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/new-jersey-man-sentenced-sending-threatening-communications-black-maryland-woman-and-her

A federal court sentenced a New Jersey man to one year and one day in prison for conspiring with members of a white supremacist hate group.

After joining the white supremacist group, “The Base," he began encouraging members to vandalize properties connected with African Americans and Jewish Americans.

The group called their plan “Kristallnacht,” or “Night of Broken Glass.” Kristallnacht was a notorious 1938 attack in which Nazis murdered Jewish people and destroyed their homes, synagogues, stores, and schools.

On September 21, 2019, members of “The Base” vandalized synagogues in Racine, Wisconsin, and Hancock, Michigan, spray painting them with hate symbols.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-sentenced-one-year-and-one-day-prison-conspiring-white-supremacists-vandalize

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-admits-conspiring-white-supremacists-vandalize-synagogues-across-country