New York, NY – Two men who allegedly made threats against synagogues in New York City were arrested late Friday night.
Twenty-one-year-old Christopher Brown, of Aquebogue, and 22-year-old Matthew Mahrer, of the Upper West Side, were taken into custody at Penn Station around 11:30 p.m.
Police say investigators uncovered a developing threat to the Jewish community Friday and worked swiftly to identify those behind it. We’re told a bulletin went out to law enforcement seeking the men for questioning.
Police sources say the threats were made to target unspecified synagogues in New York City on a computer.
Two MTA Police officers on patrol in Penn Station late Friday night saw the suspects, who were allegedly armed.
“This could have been a Pittsburgh Tree of Life situation, this could have been a Buffalo Tops supermarket type of situation, and thankfully it was averted,” said Mitchell Silber, executive director of Community Security Initiative.
The CSI was put in place by the UJA Federation and Jewish Community Relations Council of New York in the wake of attacks to better protect the Jewish community. A team of experts scour the internet for threats.
“Yesterday morning, they detected an individual on Twitter who was talking about carrying out violent attacks against the Jewish synagogue non-specific in New York. We also got the threat from a few other organizations as well,” Silber said.
He says the FBI and NYPD were immediately alerted, hours later leading to those arrests.
“It’s a horrifying development to think that this individual who was armed and could have done incredible damage was walking the streets. Thankfully, law enforcement stepped in quickly and was able to apprehend them before anybody was hurt,” said Scott Richman, Anti-Defamation League regional director for New York and New Jersey.
CBS2’s Jenna DeAngelis spoke with Jewish leaders who pointed out this comes on the heels of threats to synagogues in New Jersey earlier this month.
“Everybody I’m sure that knows the story is grateful to NYPD for their incredible vigilance and their great, great work … That this happened is unfortunately not a big surprise. We’re seeing a rise in antisemitism, a rise in attacks, especially in New York and also around the world. So we need to be vigilant,” said Roz Rothstein, co-founder and CEO of StandWithUs, an education organization that fights antisemitism.
“ADL does an audit of antisemitic incidents, and that audit shows that antisemitic incidents have quadrupled in this country since 2013, and nowhere are the number of antisemitic incidents as high as in New York state,” Richman said.
It’s a community on high alert but tonight, protected by the collective efforts of those who fight hate and those who tackle crime.
“The system worked, the shield worked and the community should take heart,” Richman said.
Police sources say neither suspect has an arrest history in New York City and there was not a detailed plan with a specific target.
CBS2’s Jennifer Bisram spoke exclusively with Brown’s family about the arrest.
They say he’s mentally ill and needs help.
