Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 29 April 2025

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. 

Networking with the Planners of the FB-ISAO Monthly Education 

• Time: Apr 30, 2025 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) 
• Join Zoom Meeting 
• Learn more here.  

Nerd Out EP 57. Drone deep-dive, plus talk on Daredevil and Andor 

The Gate 15 Nerd Out! Security Panel Discussion, moderated by Dave Pounder, focuses on physical security topics including terrorism, extremism, hostile events, and other security-focused topics. 

In the latest episode of Nerd Out, Dave is joined by Alec Davison to talk about the latest in drone news and the way threat actors exploit them from a cyber and physical security perspective as well as mitigation strategies.  

Information on other Gate 15 podcasts can be found at Podcasts.  

‘Scorched Earth’: Study looks at reasons behind rise in arson attacks on churches 

The “Scorched Earth” study by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute investigates the sharp rise in arson attacks on Canadian churches since 2021, linking the increase primarily to public reactions over unverified claims of unmarked graves at former Indigenous residential schools rather than anti-religious sentiment. 

Key points: 

• Incidents doubled since 2021, with nearly 100 churches damaged or destroyed by 2023. 
• Only 4% of arson cases resulted in charges, leaving most motives and perpetrators unidentified. 
• Statistical analysis found no strong evidence of religious motivation; the surge aligns with the timing of grave site announcements beginning in May 2021. 
• Public and political responses to these claims (many later debunked) may have indirectly fueled the attacks. 
• The report warns that law enforcement failures and public apathy could harm Indigenous reconciliation efforts. 
• It proposes a three-part plan: 
• A specialized national investigative unit for religious arsons 
• Strengthening Indigenous emergency services 
• Improving Canada’s fragmented fire-data collection systems 

Analyst Comments: There is a growing recognition of the need for a more unified and proactive strategy to safeguard faith-based communities in Canada, particularly in response to the alarming rise in church arsons since 2021. The creation of a dedicated national task force to investigate hate crimes targeting religious institutions. At present, enforcement efforts vary widely across provinces, and a significant number of these crimes remain unresolved. The authors believe that establishing a specialized investigative unit similar to those used in cases of terrorism or organized crime would enhance the consistency and effectiveness of responses, while also signaling that attacks on religious communities are taken with the utmost seriousness. 

RE-ISAC encourages organizations that have not yet reviewed CISA’s Fire as a Weapon Action Guide to do so to help identify both protective measures, and mitigation strategies. 

Cops probing threats, harassment against 2 women during protest outside NYC synagogue after vile video circulates online & Mob of Orthodox Jewish men chases woman after protest at Brooklyn synagogue 

In Brooklyn, New York, a woman was chased, kicked, spat on, and pelted with objects by a mob of Orthodox Jewish men who mistook her for a pro-Palestinian protester. The incident occurred near the Chabad Lubavitch headquarters in Crown Heights, following a protest against Israeli far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. The woman, a neighborhood resident in her 30s, had covered her face with a scarf to avoid being filmed, which led to her being surrounded by the mob. She reported that the group shouted threats and chants, including “death to Arabs,” and that a lone police officer attempted to escort her to safety but was unable to prevent the harassment. The incident has raised concerns about the safety of individuals during politically charged demonstrations and the adequacy of law enforcement responses in such situations.  

In a separate incident in Manhattan, two women were arrested after assaulting a Jewish woman who had confronted them for tearing down “Missing Persons” posters related to Israelis kidnapped by Hamas. The victim, who had recorded the confrontation on her cellphone, was attacked by the suspects, who knocked her phone out of her hand and caused minor injuries. The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident, which is part of a broader pattern of antisemitic acts in the city. Mayor Eric Adams condemned the actions as a “deeply misguided act of disrespect to victims of terrorism.” 

Analyst Comments: Both the mob harassment of a woman in a Jewish neighborhood and the assault on another Jewish woman over posters related to the Israel-Hamas conflict reveal an increasing vulnerability of faith-based communities to acts of retaliatory aggression. These incidents are not isolated outliers they signal a wider decline in public tolerance and a disturbing willingness to target individuals based on their perceived religious or ethnic identities. As international tensions intensify, it is essential that our domestic response centers on safeguarding freedom of religion and belief for all, regardless of political viewpoints.