FBI Director Patel: Indictment of Pittsburgh men shows FBI’s diligence in fighting antisemitic attacks |
ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania — FBI Director Kash Patel said that the indictment of six Pittsburgh men in connection with an antisemitic attack in the city was a testament to the Bureau’s mission to pursue, to the full extent of the law, those who commit acts of violence based on the victim’s religion.
Patel spoke to the Washington Examiner after convening a roundtable with Sen. David McCormick (R-PA) that brought together prosecutors, law enforcement officials, and families who have lost loved ones to drugs. Speaking from the Edward N. Cahn Federal Building, Patel said that these kinds of attacks are a primary focus for the law enforcement agency.
“We are going to call out acts of violence based upon evidence,” the director said of the March 12 Hezbollah-inspired targeted act of terrorism at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, a Detroit suburb. “And the evidence shows that the Jewish community has been the target” in Pittsburgh, Michigan, and many other places.
The attacker, a 41-year-old Lebanese immigrant named Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, rammed his truck into the synagogue with the intent to kill as many Jewish people as possible.
On Monday, a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh charged six men of the greater Pittsburgh area with violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act,........