Shooter drills and armed guards at synagogues: How Jewish communities are responding to rising antisemitism in US
Antisemitism in the United States has risen in a “really horrific way”, according to the Jewish Federation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The city was home to the most deadly attack on Jewish people in America – a mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in October 2018.
Eleven people were killed and six injured. A jury is due to decide in the coming days whether the gunman, Robert Bowers, should face the death penalty.
Jewish communities across the US are undertaking “active shooter” drills in response to the atrocity, and to an increase in antisemitic hate crime.
Jeff Finkelstein, the chief executive of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, told Sky News: “Antisemitism is one of the oldest forms of hatred, it’s been around for a long time. We’ve been lucky in America where it’s been kind of buried below the surface.
“As I think we’ve seen around the world, with a rise in all forms of hatred, antisemitism has popped its head up in a really horrific way, here in the United States and around the world.”
The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks hate crime, recorded 3,697 antisemitic incidents throughout the US in 2022.
That was an increase of 36% on the previous year and the highest number recorded since the organisation started tracking such behaviour in 1979. Incidents recorded included harassment, vandalism and physical assault.
Weekend worship at Squirrel Hill comes with security cameras and armed guards
In 2021, the Jewish Federations of North America launched a $130m LiveSecure campaign to provide communities with security training.
Eric Fingerhut, its president and chief executive, told Sky News: “Over the last decade or more, it’s become apparent that one of the core responsibilities of each federation for its communities is safety and security and that the efforts needed to grow significantly in sophistication and in numbers because of the rise of antisemitism and the consequent rise in violent incidents.
“Since Pittsburgh, which was October of 2018, there were maybe 15 or 20 committees that had (security) programmes – now, there are over 95.”
Run, hide, fight
Former law enforcement professionals give a safety briefing
Sky News attended a training session laid on by the Jewish Federations of Southern New Jersey at a Community Centre in Wilmington, Delaware.
Around 25 adults were given a practical safety briefing by former law enforcement professionals, built around the principles of “run, hide, fight”.
It is shooting survival training as a life skill.
Bud Monaghan, executive director of JFed Security
Bud Monaghan, executive director of JFed Security, said: “The real root of it is to teach situational awareness and response to an active threat and reinforce that as a life skill, so that people have an understanding that it’s not simply just a focus when they’re in synagogue, or maybe at the Jewish Community Centre, but something that they should incorporate into their daily routine, their daily life.
“Because the state of affairs unfortunately in the world today – it’s something (in which) people critically need to enhance their survivability in the event that they’re caught in a situation with an active threat or an active shooter.”
Jury to decide whether gunman should face death penalty
Having convicted the gunman behind the Tree of Life shooting, a jury in Pittsburgh will now decide whether Roger Bowers should face the death penalty or an alternative sentence of life without parole.
The 50-year-old truck driver was charged with 63 criminal counts, including hate crimes resulting in death and the obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death.
Before the shooting, he had expressed a hatred of Jewish people on social media. The synagogue is situated in the Pittsburgh neighbourhood of Squirrel Hill, which has a 40% Jewish population.
In the wake of the mass shooting on 27 October, the 10.27 Healing Partnership was set up to support members of the community.
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Its director, Maggie Feinstein, told Sky News: “I think a lot of antisemitism comes from somebody needing to find somebody to blame.
“I think that when there are ills, when people are starting to feel some sense of being left out or not having opportunity then, often-times, antisemitism rises… Clearly, that’s what must be happening in America right now because, when we look at the rates, we’re aware of that.
“And, I think, when we look at the rates, we also have to remember that we’ve tried to make it safe for people to report hate crimes in a way that wasn’t true many years ago.”
The families of some of the victims of the Uvalde school shooting have announced new legal action against three companies they say effectively helped to “train” the gunman to carry out the attack.
Legal action against Instagram parent company Meta Platforms, the maker of the video game series Call Of Duty and the company that made the gun used in the May 2022 shooting was announced on the two-year anniversary of the attack in Texas in the US.
Salvador Ramos, 18, killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School on 24 May 2022.
The new legal cases accuse the companies of partnering to promote and create content designed to glorify combat, gun violence and killing.
Pic: Reuters
Josh Koskoff, a lawyer for the families, called the companies a “three-headed monster” that “knowingly exposed [the gunman] to the weapon, conditioned him to see it as a tool to solve his problems and trained him to use it”.
“There is a direct line between the conduct of these companies and the Uvalde shooting,” Mr Koskoff said.
According to the lawsuits, Ramos had played versions of Call Of Duty since he was 15, including one that allowed him to effectively practise with the version of the rifle he used at the school.
It claimed the company created a “hyperrealistic” game where “although the killing is virtual, the weapons are authentic – they are designed to perfectly imitate their real-life counterparts in look, feel, recoil and accuracy”.
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‘Failures’ in Uvalde school shooting
The legal action claims Instagram does little to enforce rules that ban marketing firearms and harmful content to children.
It also accuses gunmakers Daniel Defense of using the social media platform to help “extol the illegal, murderous use of its weapons”.
Some of the same families also filed a $500m (£392m) lawsuit against Texas state police officials and officers who responded to the shooting but waited more than an hour to confront Ramos inside the classroom as students and teachers lay dead, dying or wounded.
‘Baseless accusations’
Call Of Duty makers, Activision, called the shooting “horrendous and heartbreaking in every way”.
The company added its “deepest sympathies” for the “families and communities who remain impacted by this senseless act of violence”.
But it added: “Millions of people around the world enjoy video games without turning to horrific acts.”
Activision called the shooting ‘horrendous and heartbreaking in every way’. Pic: AP
The Entertainment Software Association – a video game industry trade group – also said it was “outraged by senseless acts of violence” but pushed back on blaming games for violence, arguing research has found no link.
“We discourage baseless accusations linking these tragedies to video gameplay, which detract from efforts to focus on the root issues in question and safeguard against future tragedies,” the group said.
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Survivors and community members at Uvalde town square on Friday morning. Pic: AP
Daniel Defense and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
This is not the first legal action to be brought over the shooting.
In December 2022, a group of different plaintiffs filed a separate lawsuit against local and state police, the city, and other school and law enforcement, which seeks at least $27bn (£21bn) and class-action status for survivors.
At least two other lawsuits have also been filed against Daniel Defense.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
To mark the two-year anniversary of the shooting, community members in Uvalde planned a vigil for those killed.
In a letter, President Joe Biden said: “As we mark this solemn day, may we pray for those we lost, their loved ones, and all those who were wounded.”
A judge has rejected a request by Alec Baldwin to dismiss his criminal charge relating to the fatal shooting on the set of Rust.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer upheld an indictment charging Baldwin with one count of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, in 2021.
The New Mexico judge rejected defence arguments that prosecutors flouted the rules of grand jury proceedings to divert attention away from exculpatory evidence and witnesses.
Halyna Hutchins. Pic: Shutterstock
Prosecutors denied the accusations and said Baldwin made “shameless” attempts to escape culpability, highlighting contradictions in his statements to law enforcement, to workplace safety regulators, and in a television interview.
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison.
His lawyers said after Friday’s judgement: “We look forward to our day in court.”
The 66-year-old’s trial has been scheduled to start in July.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
During a rehearsal on the set of the Western film, Baldwin pointed a gun at Hutchins when the revolver went off, killing her and injuring director Joel Souza.
The actor has maintained that he pulled back the gun’s hammer but not the trigger.
US
Morgan Spurlock: Super Size Me documentary maker, who ate only McDonald’s for a month, dies aged 53
Documentary maker Morgan Spurlock, who famously ate only at McDonald’s for a month in Super Size Me, has died.
Spurlock died from complications of cancer at the age of 53 in New York, his family confirmed in a statement.
Craig Spurlock, the filmmaker’s brother, said: “Morgan gave so much through his art, ideas, and generosity.
“The world has lost a true creative genius and a special man. I am so proud to have worked together with him.”
Morgan Spurlock. Pic: Pia Torelli/Sipa/Shutterstock
Born on 7 November 1970, Spurlock started off his career as a playwright before creating I Bet You Will – an internet series where members of the public would take part in stunts for cash.
The 2002 webcasts, which saw some dared to eat a full jar of mayonnaise for $235 or take a shot of cod liver oil, were eventually bought by MTV.
Spurlock rose to fame with his 2004 documentary Super Size Me, where he exclusively ate at McDonald’s for 30 days to investigate the rise of obesity in the US.
He ate an average of 5,000 calories a day, always took a “super-size” meal if offered and exercised less to match the average American’s physical activity at the time.
By the end of his experiment, he claimed he put on 25lbs (11.3kg) and started suffering from depression and liver dysfunction.
Spurlock’s documentary grossed $22million in the global box office and was nominated for an Oscar.
It also prompted McDonald’s to stop offering its “super-size” option in 2004.
However the film’s findings were called into question as Spurlock refused to share his meal logs. He also later admitted to alcohol abuse in 2017, which other documentary makers said explained his liver issues and poor mental health.
In 2019, Spurlock released his second expose against the fast-food industry with Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!
The documentary sees him open his own restaurant and “become part of the problem” while tackling claims of healthy meals at big chain restaurants.
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