Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 20 December 2024

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters.

GMU student charged in mass-casualty plot targeting Jews

The FBI says an 18-year-old freshman showed an undercover informant how to strike Israel’s general consulate in New York. The Virginia college student has been charged with a weapon-of-mass-destruction offense, and federal prosecutors said he plotted an attack on Israel’s general consulate in New York using a bomb, assault rifle or suicide vest.

U.S. officials said he is an Egyptian national and currently in deportation proceedings. FBI charging documents portray him as an active social media user who praised Osama bin Laden on one X account while boasting about the antisemitic and terrorist propaganda he was spreading on others.

Related Article:

• FBI Arrests Muslim Terrorist Who Planned Massive Attack On Israeli Consulate In NYC

Analyst Comments:

The FBI’s prevention of this attack shows that terrorist threats continue to be a serious security concern. Hopefully, federal and local law enforcement will continue to intervene before the threats become an actual attack. In case an attack is not prevented, Faith-Based Organizations (FBO) should consider defending themselves as best they can.

The new year can be a good time to update and revise current cyber and physical security plans and procedures. Much concern, information, and resources involve active shooters, but plans and procedures should be wide ranging. Plans can also consider bomb threats, swatting, suspicious packages and mail, workplace violence, lone attackers, fire as a weapon, accidental fires, weather disasters, terrorist attacks, and complex coordinated terrorist attacks.

CISA’s Physical Security Performance Goals for Faith-Based Communities is a good resource for FBOs to evaluate their facility’s physical security. The document also provides guidance and tools to improve security.

Resources to consider:

• CISA: Complex Coordinated Attacks: Security Awareness for Soft Targets and Crowded Places
• FEMA: Planning Considerations: Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attacks
• OSHA provides an eTool : Evacuation Plans and Procedures – Emergency Action Plan – Develop & Implement an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) – Emergency Action Plan Checklist website
• CISA: Mitigating Attacks on Houses of Worship – Security Guide
• CISA: Protecting Places of Worship: Six Steps to Enhance Security Against Targeted Violence
• CISA Fire As A Weapon Action Guide
• US Fire Admin: Protecting Houses of Worship Against Arson
• NOAH Hurricane Preparedness
• ODNI: Postal and Shipping: Identification and Mitigation of Suspicious Mail and Packages
• CISA and FBI: Bomb Threat Guide
• US Postal Service Inspectors: Poster 84 – Suspicious Mail or Packages

As always, Faith-Based ISAO’s website provides resources in the Resource Library, including information on Securing Facilities and People.