Police gather evidence a day after a deadly shooting at a Jewish deli in the New York suburb of Jersey City (Bryan R. Smith)
<p>Jersey City (United States) (AFP) – A shooting at a kosher deli in a New York suburb was fueled by "anti-Semitism" and a hatred of police, authorities said Thursday, the latest in a rash of attacks against Jewish targets in recent years. </p><p>Investigators had previously stopped short of characterizing Tuesday’s firefight in Jersey City, in which six people were killed including the two suspects, as motivated by anti-Semitism.</p><p>But on Thursday, New Jersey attorney general Gurbir Grewal told journalists: "We believe the suspects held views that reflected hatred of Jewish people as well as hatred of law enforcement officers."</p><p>Grewal also said authorities had evidence that the suspects had expressed interest in the fringe Black Hebrew Israelite movement, which has voiced hostility toward Jewish people.</p><p>The now-deceased suspects — identified as David Anderson, 47, and Francine Graham, 50, who reportedly lived together — shot dead a police officer at a cemetery near a kosher market before storming the deli, killing two customers and a cashier before they died in a hail of police gunfire.</p><p>"I can confirm that we’re investigating this matter of potential acts of domestic terrorism fueled both by anti-Semitism and anti-law enforcement beliefs," Grewal said.</p><p>He said all three of the people killed in the store — two of them members of the area’s Hasidic community — were shot within minutes of the gunmen entering.</p><p>A fourth person was wounded by gunshot but escaped the deli.</p><p></p><p>- Heavily armed -</p><p></p><p>Grewal said officers thus far had recovered five firearms, four inside the deli and one in a vehicle parked outside the store.</p><p>The gun found in the vehicle was an "AR-15 style weapon,", which investigators believe Anderson was firing as he entered the market.</p><p>They also found a shotgun and several semi-automatic pistols, and traced two of the weapons back to purchases Graham had made in Ohio in 2018.</p><p>Hundreds of police, including tactical officers armed with rifles and wearing olive-green fatigues and helmets, were deployed during the hours-long gunbattle.</p><p>Officials discovered a live pipe bomb in the van, as well as "documentary evidence" they would not classify as a "manifesto," as many US media outlets have done.</p><p>According to The New York Times, a note found in the vehicle did not suggest a clear motive but did indicate that Anderson believed he was acting in "God’s will."</p><p>The Black Hebrew Israelites are a group of black Americans who consider themselves descendants of ancient Israelites. The movement has splintered into many semi-autonomous groups and does not have a link to mainstream Judaism.</p><p>The movement is known for provocative demonstrations but is not generally considered a promoter of violence, though the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, has labeled it a hate group, saying that bigotry informs its ideology.</p><p>It does not, however, have a violent track record on the scale of US white supremacists, which in recent years have grown more active and committed deadly attacks.</p><p></p><p>- ‘Warning sign’ -</p><p></p><p>This week’s shooting is the latest targeting Jewish people in recent years, part of an uptick in anti-Semitic acts both in the United States and in Europe.</p><p>Last year, a white supremacist entered a Pittsburgh synagogue and killed 11 people, the deadliest attack ever committed against the Jewish community in the United States.</p><p>In October, the eastern German city of Halle suffered a deadly anti-Semitic gun rampage on the holy day of Yom Kippur. A synagogue was the primary target.</p><p>Tuesday’s shooting set off an outpouring of emotion in Jersey City, a city across the river from lower Manhattan with 270,000 residents, including a small community of Hasidic families who have settled there in recent years.</p><p>Hundreds of people attended a Wednesday evening funeral for one of the victims, identified as the wife of the deli owner. </p><p>A report in April from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) stated that the number of anti-Semitic attacks in 2018 was close to the record of 2017, with 1,879 incidents.</p><p>Bill de Blasio — the mayor of New York, home to the largest population of Jewish people outside of Israel — said Tuesday’s attack was a "warning sign."</p><p>"People are now living in constant fear," he told journalists Wednesday, citing a "crisis of anti-Semitism" in the city and the nation. </p><p></p>

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.