A man fired a shotgun twice outside a Jewish temple in upstate New York on Thursday, hours before the start of Hanukkah, then said, "Free Palestine" as he was taken into custody, police said. No one was injured. The episode in the state capital of Albany took place amid rising fears of antisemitism worldwide and fallout from Israel's intensifying offensive in Gaza, which faces heightened criticism for the mounting Palestinian death toll. The gunfire outside Temple Israel happened at around 2pm, and a 28-year-old man was in custody, according to officials. Police did not identify the man, but Gov. Kathy Hochul said he was a local resident, the AP reports.
A passerby talked to the gunman near the temple about 10 minutes after the shots were fired. The man dropped the shotgun before officers arrived and detained him, Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins told reporters. "We were told by responding officers that he made a comment, 'Free Palestine,'" Hawkins said. The chief said that the episode was being investigated as a hate crime and that there was no indication other people were involved. An FBI spokesperson said the agency was aware of the episode and was assisting. Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan said children had been at a preschool inside the building when the shots were fired. Hochul said that the facility went into lockdown and that parents were later reunited with their children.
The governor called the episode particularly deplorable because it occurred at the start of Hanukkah, which began Thursday evening at sundown. "The prospect of violence in a place of worship is not just an attack on a building, it's an attack on the very fabric of our society, our freedom to express our faith, our collective shared sense of safety," Hochul said in New York City, per the AP. Shirl Hall, who lives across the street from the synagogue, said: "There's so much going on in the world. It's sad. People are going through it, and there are mental health issues everywhere." Temple Israel Rabbi Wendy Love Anderson told reporters that "after this press conference, we're going to be lighting Hannukah candles, because we need light in darkness."
(More
synagogue stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
