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Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, warned U.S. senators on Tuesday that the violence between Israel and Hamas has raised the potential for an assault in opposition to Individuals in america to “an entire different stage.”
“We assess that the actions of Hamas and its allies will function an inspiration the likes of which we haven’t seen since ISIS launched its so-called caliphate a number of years in the past,” Mr. Wray mentioned.
A number of international terrorist organizations have known as for assaults in opposition to Individuals since Oct. 7, when Hamas gunmen carried out a grotesque assault in opposition to Israel that killed 1,400 individuals, Mr. Wray mentioned. Islamic State, also referred to as ISIS, known as for assaults on Jewish communities in america and Europe; the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, threatened to assault American pursuits within the Center East; and Al Qaeda additionally issued a selected name to assault america, Mr. Wray mentioned.
Essentially the most quick concern, Mr. Wray mentioned, was that people or small teams in america are impressed by the Oct. 7 assaults “to hold out assaults in opposition to Individuals going about their every day lives.”
“That features not simply homegrown violent extremists impressed by a international terrorist group, but additionally home violent extremists focusing on Jewish or Muslim communities,” he mentioned.
Mr. Wray pointed to an arrest in Houston on Oct. 19 of a Palestinian asylum seeker who had been in america since June 2019 on a journey visa that expired just a few months later. Mr. Wray mentioned that the person, who prosecutors recognized as Sohaib Abuayyash, 20, had been finding out the way to construct bombs and posted particulars on-line about his help for killing Jewish individuals.
Prosecutors mentioned he was illegally in possession of a firearm and had been in touch with “others who share a radical mindset, has been conducting bodily coaching and has skilled with weapons to presumably commit an assault,” in line with the prison grievance, which was largely redacted.
Mr. Wray’s testimony got here as threats to Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities in america have been on the rise for the reason that warfare started on Oct. 7.
Between Oct. 7 and Oct. 23, there have been 312 antisemitic acts in america, in line with the Anti-Defamation League. These embrace a report on Oct. 15 at Grand Central Terminal in New York when somebody punched a Jewish girl within the face as a result of she was Jewish.
Over the identical time interval, the Council on American Islamic Relations, a civil rights group, mentioned it obtained greater than 700 complaints, together with reported bias incidents, since Oct. 7.
Glenn Thrush contributed reporting.
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