On Monday, Politico ran a long <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/12/18/surgeon-general-tools-loneliness-00131734" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Murthy is apparently “worried about our sad social lives.” 
According to Politico, “Americans are burned out, disconnected, isolated and starved for time. Maybe it’s post-pandemic blues. Maybe it’s our smartphone addiction. Whatever the cause, it’s serious enough that Murthy has issued a formal advisory to the nation calling for action to address this ‘epidemic.’”
What are Murthy’s solutions? He is hosting events trying to put people in proximity with one another and speaking about the “power of friendship.” At these events, as Politico describes, “People dressed as dancing unicorns handed out prescriptions for five minutes of social connection. (Quantity: Endless. Refills: Daily.)” Murthy then encouraged people to spend 45 seconds writing a text to a loved one. He asks people to engage in what he calls “the connection exercise.” He says that such exercises can be “supplemented by investments in social infrastructure, which is where policymakers come in.”
Or, alternatively, it’s precisely where policymakers should butt out.
There is a reason for our loneliness epidemic. Sure, it has to do with smartphones and the internet and the increasing atomization of our lives as we hunker down with our screens. But screens are just a tool to be used for good or ill. The real problem is that our social institutions have been summarily destroyed over the course of decades by government.
Those social institutions used to begin with and center around church.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1872-go-to-church-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h4>
Historically, churches fulfilled three interwoven functions. First, they provided common orientation around a higher goal, complete with rules and regulations that required skin in the game in order to be accepted into the group. Second, they provided economic benefits and social reinforcement, ranging from charity to the helping hands of neighbors. Finally, emerging from the first two functions, they created a feeling of community. 
That feeling of community, as sociologist Émile Durkheim wrote, could only be attained with reference to the sacred: a series of beliefs so worthwhile that they were not to be questioned. As Robert Nisbet <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Quest-Community-Background-Essential-Conservative/dp/1935191500" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes</a>, “It is community that gives to the sacred its most vital expressions everywhere: birth, marriage, death, and other moments in the human drama.”
The sacred, then, undergirded the community.
And the community provided the support structure necessary for the flourishing of the family.
And then government tried to replace church and destroyed community.
The first step was the substitution of government benefits for the earned membership of a church. People no longer had to have skin in the game of a community in order to be given charity — now they had “entitlements” by dint of breathing. According to a National Bureau of Economic Research <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/2005618486/#:~:text=Crowd%2Dout%20was%20small%20as,church%20activity%20observed%20between%201933" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a>, New Deal policies crowded out 30% of all charitable spending by churches. Government benefits were made exponentially greater. Family structure itself was dramatically undermined by government spending since you were no longer responsible for your kids or your parents. Government was. Your call on your neighbor no longer required you to sacrifice for the community. Instead, you could point the government gun at him and steal his wallet.
Able to reap the rewards without the costs, many people stopped going to church. And over the course of decades, churches began to adjust to that reality not by reinforcing common orientation around a higher goal — sanctity — but by trying to get rid of “judgment” so as to include more people. Churches began to try to mirror government: no skin in the game, plenty of benefits. As Gertrude Himmelfarb <a href="https://www.amazon.com/New-History-Old-Critical-Reappraisals/dp/0674013840/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ETD1GRVXJLI2&amp;keywords=the+new+history+and+the+old&amp;qid=1703025694&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=the+new+history+and+the+old%2Cstripbooks%2C87&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> two decades ago, “This process of [religious] accommodation has since gone on apace, so that today many mainline churches offer little or no resistance to the prevailing culture. On the contrary, some are very much part of it, priding themselves on being cosmopolitan and sophisticated, undogmatic and uncensorious.”
Thus the sacred has been wiped away, leaving us all alone with our subjective senses of self, catered to by a broad welfare state. Are we happier? Will that problem be cured by government?
Of course not.
It can only be cured by a return to community. Historically, that community means religious community, which is why it continues to be so sad to see religious leaders playing around the edges of conciliation with value systems that undermine sacredness at every turn.
On Monday, according to the vast majority of the legacy media, Pope Francis apparently decided that it was fine for priests to bless same-sex couples. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/18/briefing/texas-border-law-vatican-same-sex-relationships.html#:~:text=The%20Vatican%20announced%20today%20that,pastoral%20and%20less%20rigid%20church." target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times</a> said this move was “his most definitive step yet to make the Roman Catholic Church more welcoming to LGBTQ Catholics and more reflective of his vision of a more pastoral and less rigid church.”
If true, of course, that would mark a massive shift for the Catholic Church, which has held fast to the traditional teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman and that sexual union within marriage is the only morally permissible form of sexual union. The Church has held fast for thousands of years not only to the sanctity of marriage but also to the natural law philosophy inherent in that sanctity — a philosophy that says the world of God’s creation carries within it certain obvious rights and wrongs, teleological ends. Man and woman were created to become one flesh, this philosophy says, and creation is designed to end in the creation of new human life. 
Catholic philosopher Robert George has <a href="https://www.firstthings.com/article/2009/08/what-marriage-isand-what-it-isnt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explained</a> this point further: “What is unique about marriage is that it truly is a comprehensive sharing of life, a sharing founded on the bodily union made uniquely possible by the sexual complementarity of man and woman— a complementarity that makes it possible for two human beings to become, in the language of the Bible, one flesh, and thus possible for this one-flesh union to be the foundation of a relationship in which it is intelligible for two persons to bind themselves to each other in pledges of permanence, monogamy, and fidelity.”
It would certainly be a massive surrender for the Catholic Church to reject that teaching on behalf of a broader teaching that morality now encompasses sexual relationships of other sorts — particularly sexual relationships without any potential whatsoever for the creation of human life.
So, what did the Pope actually say?
His defenders say that he changed nothing. According to Catholic publication <a href="https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/did-the-pope-just-permit-gay-marriage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Pillar</a>, “Fiducia supplicans says clearly that that the Vatican does not intend to permit same-sex marriage, or anything that resembles it — and says that the Church does not actually have the power or authority to do that. While the text does create a framework for blessing gay couples, it says that those blessings should not be confused with marriage, or even with approval of same-sex unions, or homosexual activity.”
Fiducia suppplicans says blessings are a “pastoral resource to be valued rather than a risk or a problem” and they may be bestowed upon those persons who “although in a union that cannot be compared in any way to a marriage, desire to entrust themselves to the Lord and his mercy, to invoke his help, and to be guided to a greater understanding of his plan of love and truth.” Such blessings ought not be given in any circumstance resembling a sanctification of same-sex unions, says the Pope, and “there is no intention to legitimize anything.” Furthermore, says the document, the blessing ought to descend on those who “do not claim a legitimation of their own status, but who beg that all that is true, good, and humanly valid in their lives and their relationships be enriched, healed, and elevated by the presence of the Holy Spirit.”
But there is reason for the controversy. The document itself suggests that blessings should not be “subjected to too many moral prerequisites” and that priests ought not to “lose pastoral charity, which should permeate all our decisions and attitudes” and to avoid being “judges who only deny, reject, and exclude.” Furthermore, it is not clear whether the Church will crack down on liturgical blessings it does not approve in the document. 
The Pope, in other words, is being vague, and others are supposed to clean up for him. My friend Larry O’Connor has <a href="https://twitter.com/LarryOConnor/status/1736823331616121325" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a good rundown</a> of his interpretation of the latest missive. Here is what he writes: &#8220;I am not in full communion with the Church. As such, I am required to abstain from partaking in the Eucharist at Mass. I walk up to the altar with my arms crossed on my chest and the presiding priest offers me a blessing. He is not blessing the situation that I am in that keeps me from being in communion with the Church. He is offering me a priestly blessing so that I can continue my faith journey and move forward closer to Christ despite my situation. This is exactly what the Vatican has confirmed the pastors may do for individuals who have same sex attraction and are also not in full communion with the Church because of their situation.&#8221;
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Some thoughts on the hysteria and lies surrounding the Vatican&#39;s statement on blessings today. 
First&#8230; Read <a href="https://twitter.com/EdMorrissey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EdMorrissey</a>.
Done? Good. Now&#8230;
If you are a Christian but not Catholic, then your religion might not have formal &quot;blessings&quot; as part of your rites, liturgy or faith…
&mdash; L A R R Y (@LarryOConnor) <a href="https://twitter.com/LarryOConnor/status/1736823331616121325?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2023</a></blockquote>
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But is that all the Pope is doing? Because Larry isn’t approaching the altar as a member of a same-sex couple. He is approaching individually. Of course religions should bless the sinner but hate the sin. But when a same-sex couple approaches a priest for a blessing as a same-sex couple, the distinction falls away. The Pope here is not allowing blessing for individuals who participate in same-sex unions — every traditional religion allows sinners to receive blessings individually, so far as I’m aware. He is apparently, instead, greenlighting blessing same-sex couples as couples, then pretending it doesn’t mean anything so long as the blessing isn’t an outright sanctification of the same-sex relationship.
Clearly that’s how the Left is reading it. Rep. James Martin, a radical Left-wing Catholic, <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesMartinSJ/status/1736752056688373983" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a>, “The new declaration opens the door to nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples, something that had been previously off-limits for bishops, priests and deacons. Along with many priests, I will now <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesMartinSJ/status/1736752058055770141" target="_blank" rel="noopener">be delighted</a> to bless my friends in same-sex unions.”
So, why ought we to care? We ought to care because when historical pillars of Western tradition including natural law begin to carve away at those pillars in the name of tolerance and diversity, the entire edifice begins to crumble. That is a problem for religious believers of all traditional stripes.
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It’s not unique to Catholicism. On the same day the Pope issued his statement, celebrated by the New York Times, the Times issued a piece about the collapse of the United Methodist Church, riven by controversy over LGBTQ issues. As the Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/18/us/the-united-methodist-church-schism.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">describes</a>, “At issue for Methodists is the question of ordaining and marrying L.G.B.T.Q. people, a topic that has splintered many other Protestant denominations and which Methodists have been debating for years. … There were eight million Methodists in the United States in 2020, according to the U.S. Religion Census. Between large-scale departures and the broader trend of decline, Dr. Burge said, that number could drop by half in a decade. The exodus marks a calamitous decline for the broader tradition of mainline Protestantism, which once dominated the American religious, social and cultural landscape.”
And herein lies the problem: There is no substitute for traditional religion in the American landscape. And traditional religion requires skin in the game. The minute religion becomes merely a nonjudgmental “blessing” dumped on top of subjective self-glorification, religion loses its value.
And when religion loses its value, social society crumbles. We’re relegated to Vivek Murthy lecturing us with dancing unicorns who hand out prescriptions for social connection.

TODAY – Season 72

The Government Wants You To Listen To Dancing Unicorns

Ben Shapiro

Christianity

Church

Federal Government

Readers Pass

Surgeon General

Synagogue

Welfare

A 13-year-old boy was arrested and charged for allegedly plotting a mass shooting targeting Jews at a synagogue in Canton, Ohio, according to court documents obtained by local news outlets. 
The alleged threat was first reported to the Stark County Sheriff’s Office on September 1 after the teenage boy allegedly posted his plans to carry out a mass shooting at the Temple Israel on the online chat platform Discord, the court documents showed. The suspect, whose name was not published due to his age, is charged with inducing panic and disorderly conduct, which are both misdemeanors, and he will appear in Stark County Family Court on Wednesday, December 20, WKYC <a href="https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/canton/13-year-old-accused-planning-mass-shooting-at-temple-israel-canton/95-b1eaa810-9f0f-4bd3-9c35-f8aa866f0316" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. 
&#8220;(Name redacted) did create a detailed plan to complete a mass shooting at the Temple Israel on the Discord platform which was reported to law enforcement and required an immediate investigatory response and notification of public individuals and agencies including the school system in which caused significant public alarm within those agencies,” the court documents state. 
The Stark County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation into the alleged plans of the teenager. The Anti-Defamation League Cleveland thanked law enforcement officials for their work on the case, <a href="https://twitter.com/ADL_Cleveland/status/1735071295933423842?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1735071295933423842%7Ctwgr%5E07fbba65c9b48a4de7181a69d482db21fb20b23b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fiframe.nbcnews.com%2FOsFVE5U%3F_showcaption%3Dtrueapp%3D1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> it is “horrified” by the alleged plans of the teenager to target Jews. 
Reports of anti-Semitic hate crimes have skyrocketed in the U.S. and other Western countries after Hamas carried out a brutal attack on Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,200 people and kidnapping hundreds of others. 
FBI Director Chris Wray warned in late October of anti-Semitism in the U.S. reaching “historic levels,” saying that 60% of all religious hate crimes in the country are targeting Jewish people. 
&#8220;The Jewish community is targeted by terrorists really across the spectrum,&#8221; Wray testified before a Senate panel, adding, &#8220;This is not a time for panic, but it is a time for vigilance. We shouldn&#8217;t stop conducting our daily lives &#8211; going to schools, houses of worship, and so forth &#8211; but we should be vigilant.&#8221;
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Last week, authorities responded to another apparent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/man-arrested-after-shotgun-fired-outside-synagogue-where-children-were-in-preschool" target="_blank" rel="noopener">targeting</a> of Jews when a man allegedly fired two shots from a shotgun outside of a New York synagogue while children were in the building for preschool. The suspect in the shooting is a U.S. citizen who was born in Iraq and allegedly said “events in the Middle East have impacted him.”

Star Of David On Doors, Synagogue

13-Year-Old Boy Charged For Allegedly Planning Mass Shooting At Ohio Synagogue

Anti-Semitism

Crime

Police

Shooting

A man has been arrested after shots were fired with a shotgun outside a synagogue in Albany, New York, on Thursday afternoon, just as the Jewish holiday of Chanukah was to commence.
According to FBI spokesperson Sarah Ruane, Mufid Fawaz Alkhader has been arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, NBC News reported. Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins said Alkhader fired two shots at Temple Israel; he added, “We were told by responding officers that he made a comment ‘Free Palestine.’”
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No one was injured in the incident, in which Al Khader fired two shots from a shotgun outside Temple Israel around 2 p.m., Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins said. 
“We were told by responding officers that he made a comment ‘Free Palestine,’” Hawkins said
&mdash; Chloe Atkins (@chloe_aatkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/chloe_aatkins/status/1732996861378650243?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2023</a></blockquote>
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“Thanks to the swift coordination between the ATF, FBI, and our partners at Albany Police Department and New York State Police, Mufid Fawaz Alkhader has been arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person,” FBI Albany wrote on X. “More information will be provided by the United States Attorney&#8217;s Office following an initial appearance scheduled for tomorrow at U.S. District Court in Albany.”
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Federal update to the Temple Israel shots fired incident:<a href="https://twitter.com/ATFNewYork?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ATFNewYork</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/albanypolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Albanypolice</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/nyspolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NYSpolice</a> <a href="https://t.co/XUz2CX84Ir">pic.twitter.com/XUz2CX84Ir</a>
&mdash; FBI Albany (@FBIAlbany) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBIAlbany/status/1732973816748351894?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2023</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jewish-temple-shots-albany-new-york-hanukkah-cd1c44c4829e699a42eeaa87ef0e5373">According</a> to New York Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul, Alkhader is a New York state resident; <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/who-mufid-alkhader-albany-synagogue-shooting-suspect-1850741">Newsweek</a> reported he is a resident of Schenectady, New York, and is a U.S. citizen who was born in Iraq. “He allegedly said that ‘events in the Middle East have impacted him,’ according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco &amp; Explosives task force,” Newsweek reported, adding, “New York Governor Kathy Hochul said that Alkhader has a ‘rap sheet.’”
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan <a href="https://apnews.com/article/jewish-temple-shots-albany-new-york-hanukkah-cd1c44c4829e699a42eeaa87ef0e5373">said</a> that at the time of the incident, children were at a preschool inside the building; Hochul said the temple went into lockdown mode.
“This feels sadly inevitable as we’ve repeatedly seen antisemites target synagogues and Jewish people &amp; businesses as ‘retribution&#8217; for Israel,” Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, stated.
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Chanukah, which means dedication, celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the second century after Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks) were forcing the Jewish people to accept Greek culture and beliefs and Jews led by Judah the Maccabee defeated the powerful Greek army, drove them out of the land, and reclaimed the Temple so it could be used for Jewish observance again. According to Jewish tradition, when the Jews returned to the Temple they found only a single jug of pure olive oil to light the menorah traditionally kept in the Temple; but when they lit the oil it miraculously lasted for eight days until new oil could be prepared.

Lit Menorah in Home

Man Arrested After Shotgun Fired Outside Synagogue Where Children Were In Preschool

Albany

New York

U.S.

A Synagogue board president with deep connections to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/michigan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michigan</a> Democrats was found stabbed to death outside of her home in Detroit Saturday morning.
Samantha Woll, 40, who previously worked for Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Democrat Attorney General Dana Nessel, was the president of Isaac Agree Downtown Detroit Synagogue, a position she has held since last year, The Detroit Free Press <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2023/10/21/samantha-woll-dead-isaac-agree-downtown-detroit-synagogue-president/71271616007/">reported</a>. She was found on the ground outside her home with multiple stab wounds at around 6:30 a.m. Saturday and pronounced dead at the scene.
“I am shocked, saddened and horrified to learn of Sam’s brutal murder,” Nessel said in a statement. “Sam was as kind a person as I’ve ever known. She was driven by her sincere love of her community, state and country. Sam truly used her faith and activism to create a better place for everyone.”
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I am shocked, saddened and horrified to learn of Sam’s brutal murder. Sam was as kind a person as I’ve ever known. She was driven by her sincere love of her community, state and country. Sam truly used her faith and activism to create a better place for everyone. <a href="https://t.co/gIYRP4USaj">pic.twitter.com/gIYRP4USaj</a>
&mdash; Dana Nessel (@dananessel) <a href="https://twitter.com/dananessel/status/1715798450938216810?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 21, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Woll was <a href="https://www.thejewishnews.com/archives/36-under-36-samantha-sam-woll/article_63566926-8412-5f09-8543-3be9ea314b7d.html">recognized</a> by the Detroit Jewish News in 2017 for being “instrumental in the founding of the Muslim-Jewish Forum of Detroit — a grassroots collective of young adults of both faiths who gather in partnership to learn, celebrate and build community together.”
Police are investigating and have yet to determine a motive and have not taken anyone into custody. Authorities said they found a trail of blood leading from Woll’s body back to her home where they believe the crime occurred, according to the Detroit Free Press. The synagogue president&#8217;s stabbing comes amid a rise in anti-Semitic threats and harassment across the U.S. in the days following Hamas&#8217; October 7 terrorist attack on Israel.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said he had just spent time with Woll weeks ago at the “dedication of the newly renovated Downtown Synagogue” and called her one of the city’s “great young leaders.”
&#8220;I was devastated today to learn of the loss of one of Detroit’s great young leaders &#8211; Samantha Woll,” Duggan said. Just weeks ago, I shared a day of joy with Sam at the dedication of the newly renovated Downtown Synagogue. It was a project she successfully led with great pride and enthusiasm. Sam’s loss has left a huge hole in the Detroit community. This entire city joins with her family and friends in mourning her tragic death.&#8221;
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Slotkin also posted a tribute to Woll, saying she was “heartbroken” over the news.
&#8220;I and all of Team Slotkin is heartbroken at this news. Sam worked for me from nearly the moment I became a Congresswoman, helping us set up the office &amp; helping to lead it for my full first term,” Slotkin wrote on X, adding, “My heart aches that we have lost someone so dedicated to serving others in such a senseless act. I’ll miss her relentless desire to serve &amp; her bright smile seemingly everywhere across the Detroit area.”

Isaac Agree Downtown Detroit Synagogue

Detroit Synagogue President Found Stabbed To Death Outside Her Home

Dana Nessel

Death

Democrats

Detroit

Michigan

Murder

A jury on Wednesday sentenced the man who gunned down 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pittsburgh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pittsburgh</a> to death, nearly five years after the attack. 
The shooter, whom The Daily Wire will not name in accordance with company policy, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tree-of-life-synagogue-shooter-convicted-on-all-charges-could-face-death-penalty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found guilty</a> in June of all 63 counts he was facing, including 11 counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. 
The jury’s unanimous decision was announced by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Colville, who presided over the trial, which took place in downtown Pittsburgh. The judge will <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/08/02/us/pittsburgh-synagogue-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">officially</a> sentence the shooter to death later this week. 
The victims were from three Jewish congregations who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooter-eligible-for-death-penalty-jury-decides" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gathered</a> at the Tree of Life synagogue on October 27, 2018. Two other worshipers and five police officers were also wounded by the gunman, who unloaded a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and three Glock .357 handguns during his attack. 
Victims of the shooting <a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2023/08/02/pittsburgh-synagogue-tree-of-life-trial-updates-robert-bowers-verdict/stories/202308020089" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were</a>: Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil and David Rosenthal, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax, and Irving Younger.
The shooting is considered by authorities to be the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.
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“I hope that today’s sentencing decision in the synagogue shooting case marks a step forward toward healing for our community,” Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said after the verdict was announced. “I hope that we can use this decision to start a new chapter that uplifts and protects our city’s Jewish community.”
Attorneys representing the shooter asked for a life sentence if he pleaded guilty, but prosecutors, with the support of most of the victims’ families, refused and took the case to trial to pursue the death penalty. The shooter’s lawyers also argued that he was impaired by mental illness and a delusional belief system took over his thinking, dictating that he had to kill Jews to stop a genocide of white people, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-death-penalty-27e3b1a505cacdd674ee9b8a179aa1a8">reported</a>. 
“He turned this place of worship into an exhibit in his criminal trial,” U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan said while arguing for jurors to recommend the death penalty, according to the Pittsburgh Gazette.
A criminal complaint <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-mass-shooting-verdict-reached-federal-death/story?id=100104078">showed</a> that the man told authorities he intentionally targeted the synagogue because he hoped to kill Jewish people. The shooter’s defense attorneys acknowledged that he had done the shooting but asked jurors to “scrutinize his intent.” 
Zach Jewell contributed to this report.

Pittsburgh Commemorates One-Year Anniversary Of Synagogue Shootings

Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Sentenced To Death By Jury

Courts

Death Penalty

Mass Shooting

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

The man who gunned down 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, nearly five years ago is eligible for the death penalty, a federal jury announced Thursday. 
The jury agreed with prosecutors who are seeking capital punishment for the shooter who targeted Jews after six months of planning and said he regretted not killing more people, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/robert-bowers-synagogue-trial-death-penalty-74bcc4f2b79a91a5bf7c6718c9016e84" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The shooting is considered by authorities to be the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. 
The shooter, whom The Daily Wire will not name in accordance with company policy, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tree-of-life-synagogue-shooter-convicted-on-all-charges-could-face-death-penalty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found guilty</a> last month of all 63 counts he was facing, including 11 counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. 
After two hours of deliberations, the jurors’ verdict was read in front of survivors and the victims&#8217; family members.
“It has been nearly five years since 11 people were taken from us. They were beloved and valued family members, friends and neighbors. They cannot speak for themselves, and so their family members will speak for them,” said Maggie Feinstein, the director of 10.27 Healing Partnership, a program dedicated to helping survivors of the shooting and those affected by the tragedy. 
Attorneys representing the shooter asked for a life sentence if he pleaded guilty, but prosecutors, with the support of most of the victims’ families, refused and took the case to trial to pursue the death penalty. The shooter’s lawyers also argued that he was impaired by mental illness and a “delusional belief system took over his thinking,” dictating that he had to kill Jews to stop a genocide of white people, the AP reported. 
The mass murderer killed 11 people from three Jewish congregations who gathered at the Tree of Life synagogue on October 27, 2018. Two other worshipers and five police officers were also wounded by the gunman who unloaded a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and three Glock .357 handguns during his attack. 
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Jurors are now expected to hear the gruesome details of how the shooter inflicted pain and trauma on his Jewish victims before they decide if his crime will ultimately result in capital punishment. After hearing arguments from the prosecution and the defense, including possible pleas from the shooter’s family members, the jury must be in unanimous agreement for the death penalty to be carried out.
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.

Tree of Life Synagogue

Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Eligible For Death Penalty, Jury Decides

Jews

In 1938, the main synagogue in the German city of Munich was demolished on direct orders from Adolf Hitler. Eighty-five years later, construction workers <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/world/europe/munich-synagogue-hitler-germany.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">came across</a> pieces of it in a river just a few miles away. 
The synagogue, built in 1887, was leveled by the Nazis because Hitler believed it was an “eyesore” for the city, the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66107481" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. A construction crew uncovered columns from the synagogue as well as a partial stone tablet with the Ten Commandments inscribed on it while working on a dam. 
“I knew the imposing building as a child before it was torn down, and I never thought that parts of it could have survived the destruction, much less for them to resurface almost a century later,” 90-year-old Charlotte Knobloch, the president of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/world/europe/munich-synagogue-hitler-germany.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The New York Times in an email. 
The synagogue, one of two in Munich at the time, was one of the first synagogues in Germany that was destroyed by the Nazis, <a href="https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/this-month/april/1927.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to The World Holocaust Remembrance Center. 
The construction crew <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/06/europe/munich-synagogue-discovery-scli-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discovered</a> the remnants of the synagogue on June 28 during a job to refurbish a small dam on the Isar River, according to the BBC. The artifacts were roughly five miles from where the building once stood. The Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/world/europe/munich-synagogue-hitler-germany.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> that the artifacts were 15 to 25 feet below the service. The crew immediately contacted German heritage officials to inform them of the find. 
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A construction crew found pieces of Munich’s main synagogue in a river during a project to refurbish an old underwater structure. The synagogue was among the first Jewish places of worship to be destroyed in Hitler’s Germany. <a href="https://t.co/gsZKqEpl3g">https://t.co/gsZKqEpl3g</a> <a href="https://t.co/Prhmk2kaMQ">pic.twitter.com/Prhmk2kaMQ</a>
&mdash; The New York Times (@nytimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1677009545447497742?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;[That was a] day which is very unusual in my professional career, because we don&#8217;t usually find a synagogue in a river,&#8221; Jewish Musem Munich director Bernhard Purin <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/06/1186049726/munich-synagogue-hitler-demolished-found-river" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> NPR. Purin added that the discovery of the tablet with the Ten Commandments is “especially touching” because “all worshippers look to it” during services. 
The rubble from the synagogue was placed in the yard of the company that carried out the demolition, the Times reports. In 1956, it was used — along with other debris from bombed buildings — to reinforce a dam in the river. 
&#8220;These stones are part of Munich&#8217;s Jewish history,&#8221; Knobloch <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66107481" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;I really didn&#8217;t expect fragments to survive, let alone that we would see them.&#8221;
Upon learning of the orders to destroy the synagogue, the Jewish community in Munich worked through the night to preserve items, including Torah scrolls and ritual objects, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center says. Just a few hours later, the synagogue was demolished. 
Five months after the Munich synagogue’s destruction, the Nazi pogroms known as Kristallnacht occurred, also known as “the night of broken glass,” in which Jewish synagogues, homes, and businesses were destroyed. 
Today, a department store occupies the space where the &#8220;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66107481" target="_blank" rel="noopener">beautiful</a>&#8221; synagogue once stood. Authorities say the remains of the place of worship will be returned to the Jewish community. 
“The extermination of Jewish citizens during the Nazi era began with the destruction of Jewish culture,” Munich Deputy Mayor Katrin Habenschaden <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/06/europe/munich-synagogue-discovery-scli-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “The demolition of the main synagogue on Hitler’s orders marked the beginning of exclusion, persecution and destruction. The fact that today we can find remains of the once cityscape-defining magnificent building is a stroke of luck and touches me deeply. Jewish life was and is an integral part of our city’s history, present and future.”

Munich Synagogue

Pieces Of Munich Synagogue Discovered After Hitler Ordered Its Destruction 85 Years Ago

Adolf Hitler

Germany

Judaism

Nazi Germany

World

Jury selection began Monday in the trial of the shooter who killed 11 at the Tree of Life synagogue in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pittsburgh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pittsburgh</a> in 2018.
The 50-year-old shooter faces 63 counts, including 11 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religion resulting in death and 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death.
If convicted, he could face the death penalty, jurors <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pittsburgh-synagogue-mass-shooting-trial-e89661bba2d7e3beb48b6420d72ddb35" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Monday.
On October 27, 2018, the shooter opened fire on Jewish worshippers holding Sabbath services at the Tree of Life synagogue in east Pittsburgh. He killed 11 people and wounded six more, including several Holocaust survivors.
The attack was the most deadly anti-Semitic attack in United States history.
He was armed with a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, as well as three Glock .357 handguns — and fired all four of the firearms, authorities said.
Prosecutors say their evidence also includes hundreds of cartridge cases, as well as bullets.
The shooter, a truck driver from a Pittsburgh suburb, offered to plead guilty in order to get a life sentence rather than a death sentence, but federal prosecutors rejected that offer.
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His legal team <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pittsburgh-synagogue-massacre-robert-bowers-c395a822a1a684d4c87fa079c59832f4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he has schizophrenia, as well as structural and functional brain impairments.
U.S. District Judge Robert Colville is overseeing the trial in downtown Pittsburgh.
Several relatives of victims who died in the attack, as well as one survivor of the attack, were reportedly in the courtroom for the first day of the trial.
All four of the first prospective jurors said they would be willing to consider a death sentence or life in prison. They were each questioned for about 30 minutes, mostly about how they felt regarding a potential death penalty.
Most of the families of the victims said that they support the government pursuing the death penalty.
The shooter’s online presence showed he made anti-Semitic statements. He reportedly called Jews the &#8220;children of Satan,&#8221; and his cover photo on the social media website Gab was a photo with the number 1488, which has been used by white supremacists to reference the &#8220;<a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/14-words" target="_blank" rel="noopener">14 Words</a>&#8221; white supremacist slogan, as well as the Nazi slogan &#8220;Heil Hitler.&#8221;
Prosecutors are expected to argue that the attack was motivated by religious hatred. Earlier this month, prosecutors said in a court filing that the shooter “harbored deep, murderous animosity towards all Jewish people.”
In 2021, during a pretrial hearing, a police officer <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pittsburgh-synagogue-mass-shooting-trial-e89661bba2d7e3beb48b6420d72ddb35" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> that the shooter was “very calm and he said he’s had enough and that Jews are killing our children and the Jews had to die.” Another police officers said the shooter had told him “these people are committing genocide on my people and I want to kill Jews.”
Court documents show that prosecutors may bring in autopsies and the 911 calls of two victims who were later shot and killed.
The trial is expected to revolve around whether the shooter should be sentenced to death.
President Biden said during his 2020 campaign that he wanted to abolish the death penalty at the federal level, but prosecutors are moving forward with the potential of a death sentence in this trial.
The trial is expected to be lengthy, lasting several months, with jury selection taking up to several weeks.

TOPSHOT-US-CRIME-SHOOTING-RELIGION

Jury Selection Starts For 2018 Pittsburgh Synagogue Attack

Jewish

A reporter in Portland has been arrested in connection with arson and vandalism cases involving multiple houses of worship in the area, according to local law enforcement officials.
Michael E. Bivins, 34, was booked Saturday into the Multnomah County Detention Center on three criminal mischief charges and one arson charge.
The Oregonian <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2022/05/police-arrest-34-year-old-portland-man-accused-of-vandalizing-synagogues-setting-fire-to-mosque.html">reported</a> that Bivins is accused of &#8220;spraying an antisemitic death threat&#8221; outside one of the synagogues where staff also found &#8220;scorch marks from recent fires.&#8221; He is also accused of returning to the same synagogue and spraying more graffiti and throwing a large rock through a window, along with breaking a window at a different synagogue and starting a fire at a mosque.
The Portland Police Bureau highlighted the following details surrounding the alleged crimes:
<ul>
<li>April 30th, 2022 – Congregation Shir Tikvah 2420 NE Sandy Blvd &#8211; Broken Window. Charge: Criminal Mischief in the First Degree</li>
<li>May 2nd, 2022 – Congregation Beth Israel 1972 NW Flanders – Graffiti on Synagogue. Charge: Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree</li>
<li>May 3rd, 2022 – Muslim Community Center of Portland – Fire to occupied Mosque. Charge: Arson in the First Degree (Measure 11)</li>
<li>May 4th, 2022 – Congregation Beth Israel 1972 NW Flanders – Large rock thrown through library window. Charge: Criminal Mischief in the First Degree</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BREAKING: Portland reporter Mike Bivins has been arrested over vandalism attacks on synagogues &amp; attempted arson at a mosque. He&#39;s been charged w/multiple felonies. His last DM to me in 2020 was a message critical of me posting <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Antifa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Antifa</a> riot mugshots. <a href="https://t.co/piHPr2AkUe">https://t.co/piHPr2AkUe</a> <a href="https://t.co/vbihNL9p6B">pic.twitter.com/vbihNL9p6B</a>
&mdash; Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1523087528634593282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Authorities said that Bivins was arrested after he visited a television news station, KPTV FOX 12, and demanded to speak to a reporter.
&#8220;On Wednesday, Bivins came by the FOX 12 station asking to speak to a reporter,&#8221; the outlet <a href="https://www.kptv.com/2022/05/07/suspect-crimes-portland-houses-worship-arrested/">said</a> in a statement. &#8220;He said he was the one vandalizing places of worship, gave names and locations of places he had been to and vandalized, and said he would not stop committing these crimes before stating he would come back to the station Friday afternoon.&#8221;
Authorities said that federal law enforcement officials had been notified and that additional charges may be forthcoming.
&#8220;This is certainly noteworthy that someone would contact a news station and want to discuss crimes they committed,&#8221; Kevin Allen of Portland Police said. &#8220;I’m not sure what the motivation there was, but we are certainly grateful to you and KPTV for working with our investigators so we could get him arrested, get him into custody and find appropriate charges for him. It’s important to note too that this is early in the investigation. I know the detective is continuing to work on what charges could be appropriate and we could be putting more charges forth going forward.&#8221;

Mike Bivins

Portland Reporter Arrested For Arson, Vandalism At Synagogues And A Mosque: Police

Portland Reporter Arrested For Arson, Accused Of Vandalizing Houses Of Worship

Arson

Portland

The Rabbi of a Colleyville, Texas, synagogue <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-news-alert-texas-8a094fb7cd9d565a8ceb57f3e9a8f467">says</a> that he threw a chair at the gunman who held Jewish worshippers captive on Saturday, allowing him to escape with two other hostages after a 10-hour standoff.
“The rabbi of a Texas synagogue said Monday that he threw a chair at the gunman and then escaped with two other hostages after a 10-hour standoff,” reported <a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-synagogue-hostage-standoff-terrorism-d4b1e482919d28fdaf25de0776dd1200">The Associated Press</a>.
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who was held hostage on Saturday along with three of his congregants, also credited regular active-shooter preparation education with saving lives.
The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/01/17/texas-rabbi-credits-security-training-for-hostage-survival/">reported</a> that Cytron-Walker said his synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel, “participated in multiple security courses,” including some with local police and the FBI.
“Over the years, my congregation and I have participated in multiple security courses from the Colleyville Police Department, the FBI, the Anti-Defamation League, and Secure Community Network,” Cytron-Walker said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/matthewkassel/status/1482811997825773577?s=20">statement</a>. “We are all alive today because of that education. I encourage all Jewish congregations, religious groups, schools, and others to participate in active-shooter and security courses.”
“In the last hour of our hostage crisis, the gunman became increasingly belligerent and threatening,” Cytron-Walker added. “Without the instruction we received, we would not have been prepared to act and flee when the situation presented itself.”
“There is no question that this was a traumatic experience,” the Rabbi said. “We appreciate all the love, prayers and support from our local community and throughout the world. We are grateful for the outcome. We are resilient and we will recover.”
“First of all, we escaped. We weren’t released or freed,” Jeffrey R. Cohen, another man held hostage, said on Facebook.
“Cohen said the men worked to keep the gunman engaged. They talked to the gunman, he lectured them. At one point as the situation devolved, Cohen said the gunman told them to get on their knees,” The Associated Press reported. “Cohen recalled rearing up in his chair and slowly moving his head and mouthing ‘no.’ As the gunman moved to sit back down, Cohen said Cytron-Walker yelled to run.”
“The exit wasn’t too far away,” Cytron-Walker said. “I told them to go. I threw a chair at the gunman, and I headed for the door. And all three of us were able to get out without even a shot being fired.”
“Thanks to the courageous work of state, local and federal law enforcement, four Americans who were held hostage at a Texas synagogue will soon be home with their families. I am grateful to the tireless work of law enforcement at all levels who acted cooperatively and fearlessly to rescue the hostages. We are sending love and strength to the members of Congregation Beth Israel, Colleyville, and the Jewish community,” President Joe Biden announced in a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/01/15/statement-by-president-biden-on-the-hostage-situation-at-congregation-beth-israel-in-colleyville-texas/">statement</a>. “There is more we will learn in the days ahead about the motivations of the hostage taker. But let me be clear to anyone who intends to spread hate—we will stand against antisemitism and against the rise of extremism in this country. That is who we are, and tonight, the men and women of law enforcement made us all proud.”
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at<a href="https://twitter.com/ighaworth"> @ighaworth</a>.

Colleyville Synagogue

Texas Rabbi Says He Threw Chair At Gunman And Escaped With Two Other Hostages

Terrorism

Jewish community leaders blasted the FBI after law enforcement officials said in a Saturday statement that the actions of a gunman who held five Jews hostage were “not specifically related to the Jewish community.”
Roz Rothstein, co-founder and CEO of the Israel education group StandWithUs, called the FBI’s original statement “insulting and disappointing,” according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/jewish-leaders-react-fbi-statement-texas-synagogue-hostages">Fox News</a>.
“Trying to separate Jews from the idea that JEWS were targeted on their holy day at their house of worship, is a mistake and it is insulting and disappointing,” Rothstein continued. “It is also dangerous to downplay an attack against Jewish people as being something else at a time of rising anti-Jewish bigotry that we should all be paying attention to. It makes no sense to try and separate Saturday&#8217;s hostage crisis from the people who suffered and who were the most impacted: Jews, their Jewish families and the Jewish world.”
After receiving backlash over its initial statement, the FBI issued another statement on Sunday calling the incident “terrorism-related” and saying that the Jewish community “was targeted.”
“All of us at the FBI are relieved the hostage situation in Colleyville, Texas, was resolved without physical injury to those taken hostage. We never lose sight of the threat extremists pose to the Jewish community and to other religious, racial, and ethnic groups,” the FBI said in a statement. “We have had a close and enduring relationship with the Jewish community for many years. We continue to work tirelessly with the Secure Community Network, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Federation, and others to protect members of the Jewish community from all potential threats.”
“This is a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted, and is being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Preventing acts of terrorism and violence is the number one priority of the FBI,” the FBI added.
On Saturday, a British national allegedly held a rabbi and four others hostage at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. The hostage situation ended after about 12 hours with all hostages leaving the synagogue safely. The FBI confirmed the suspect was dead, though did not say how.
The FBI’s original statement after the hostage crisis elicited criticism online:
<ul>
<li>Seth Mandel, Washington Examiner: “He took a shul hostage and demanded to free a notorious antisemite and forced one rabbi to call another rabbi in NY to help with this. Motive is likely indigestion, though we can’t rule out ‘lost a bet.’”</li>
<li>Dan McLaughlin, National Review: “Hitler was mad about the Treaty of Versailles, which wasn’t Jews’ fault, either.”</li>
<li>Alberto Miguel Fernandez, retired U.S. diplomat: “Such a bizarre take by the FBI.”</li>
<li>Gregg Carlstrom, The Economist: “Just a coincidence that he targeted a house of worship used by this one particular religious minority, a coincidence that seems to happen an awful lot throughout history.”</li>
<li>Kyle Orton, researcher: “This is absolutely absurd from @AP. In an era when the most micro-identities receive excess coverage and the most innocent slight can be interpreted as evidence of bias, even a hostage-taking at a synagogue doesn’t qualify as hostility to Jews.”</li>
<li>Josh Hammer, Newsweek: “These people defy parody.”</li>
<li>John Cardillo, political commentator: “The Bureau is in a race with itself to destroy whatever microscopic fraction of credibility it might have left.”</li>
</ul>

Congregation Beth Israel

Jewish Leaders Hammer FBI For Downplaying Jewish Connection To Texas Synagogue Attack

Texas

The FBI released a new statement late on Sunday appearing to contradict their previous remarks about the hostage situation that unfolded on Saturday at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas.
The FBI said in a statement, “This is a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted, and is being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force.”
The statement marks a major shift in tune from the FBI after one of its agents said on Saturday that the situation &#8220;was not specifically related to the Jewish community.&#8221;
“We do believe from our engagement with this subject that he was singularly focused on one issue, and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Matt DeSarno said. “But we’re continuing to work to find motive and we will continue on that path. In terms of the resolution of the incident, the hostage taker is deceased.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Newest FBI statement on Colleyville just in &#8211; per Fox’s <a href="https://twitter.com/JakeBGibson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JakeBGibson</a>: “This is a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted, and is being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force.”
&mdash; Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShannonBream/status/1482938414022471682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The initial statement sparked widespread backlash from numerous journalists, media personalities, and other notable figures, including:
<ul>
<li>Seth Mandel, Washington Examiner: “He took a shul hostage and demanded to free a notorious antisemite and forced one rabbi to call another rabbi in NY to help with this. Motive is likely indigestion, though we can’t rule out ‘lost a bet.&#8217;”</li>
<li>Dan McLaughlin, National Review: “Hitler was mad about the Treaty of Versailles, which wasn’t Jews’ fault, either.”</li>
<li>Alberto Miguel Fernandez, retired U.S. diplomat: “Such a bizarre take by the FBI.”</li>
<li>Gregg Carlstrom, The Economist: “Just a coincidence that he targeted a house of worship used by this one particular religious minority, a coincidence that seems to happen an awful lot throughout history.”</li>
<li>Kyle Orton, researcher: “This is absolutely absurd from @AP . In an era when the most micro-identities receive excess coverage and the most innocent slight can be interpreted as evidence of bias, even a hostage-taking at a synagogue doesn’t qualify as hostility to Jews.”</li>
<li>Josh Hammer, Newsweek: “These people defy parody.”</li>
<li>John Cardillo, political commentator: “The Bureau is in a race with itself to destroy whatever microscopic fraction of credibility it might have left.”</li>
<li>Kurt Schlichter, attorney: “I’m just shocked the FBI didn’t know about him beforehand like it knew about all those other terrorists. It didn’t, right? Right?”</li>
<li>Benjamin Weingarten, RealClearInvestigations: “Obama is fully back.”</li>
<li>Michael Berry, radio host: “It wasn’t related to religion? Oh, ok, FBI.”</li>
<li>Isaac Schorr, National Review: “For all we know, the guy might have chosen a synagogue because he wanted to spend his last day on Earth hanging out with Jews.”</li>
<li>Michael Scott Doran, analyst: “The FBI worries more about kowtowing to the progressive cult than about remaining legitimate in the eyes of the American people.”</li>
<li>Stephen L. Miller, political commentator: “Parents at school board meetings are instantly labeled domestic terrorists in writing on official DOJ letterhead. Armed guy takes Jewish hostages at synagogue during religious services demanding the release of an anti-Semitic convicted terrorist is a mystery they can’t solve.”</li>
</ul>
This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.

Police Respond To Hostage Situation At Texas Synagogue

FBI Changes Tune On Synagogue Hostage Situation: ‘The Jewish Community Was Targeted’

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