A nationwide campaign, using the FBI, is being launched by the Trump administration to crackdown on antisemitism.
The Task Force to Combat Antisemitism will send officials from the Justice Department to 15 US cities it believes have failed to properly protect their Jewish communities.
Task Force chairman Leo Terrell told the Jerusalem Post: “The 15-city tour is designed to go to victims who need help, and they’re not getting help from their local government.”
The move marks an expansion of The Task Force, which was created last year and has already been involved in holding academic institutions across the US to account for failures.
“What’s happening here is that the local district attorneys and local mayors are not prosecuting hate crimes,” Terrell said.
“I’m coming with a full arsenal of people. I’m bringing the Department of Labor. I’m bringing the FBI. I’m bringing resources and law enforcement.”
Terrell told the Jerusalem Post that his team of officials will be talking to the people in the communities who have been affected by antisemitism, not just the local powers responsible for tackling it.
In the US, local judges and mayors are responsible for upholding the law in their jurisdiction – but Terrell said, "Washington still has tools at its disposal".
“If [local powers] fail to take action on behalf of Jewish Americans, the federal government could come in and do what they call a pattern-and-practice lawsuit,” Terrell said.
“We have to document their failures first before we can take corrective action.”
The other aim, according to Terrell, is to educate those affected about legal action they may be able to take against their local powers. The tour is set to begin in September and could last several months. Terrell is yet to publicly name the 15 cities which will be included.
He did, however, elude to certain locations when speaking to the Jerusalem Post.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know there are problems in New York,” he said. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know there are problems in Los Angeles.” “But in Seattle, Tacoma, and some smaller cities in the Midwest, we’ve been inundated. I’ve gotten calls from St. Louis because of hate crimes going on.”
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