Man arrested for spraying substance on two people and yelling ‘gas the Jews’ outside synagogue
It comes at a time when hate crimes targeting Jewish and Muslim communities are rising across the country
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A man has been arrested over an alleged antisemitic attack on two people outside a Washington DC synagogue.
Brent Wood, from Toledo, Ohio, was arrested on Sunday after he sprayed a foul-smelling substance on the two people close to the Kesher Israel Congregation in Georgetown shortly before 9.30am on Sunday morning, according to the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department.
The suspect allegedly yelled “gas the Jews” while carrying out the attack, according to NBC Washington.
No one was physically hurt in the attack – coming at a time of heightened tensions and rising hate crimes amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Police said that Mr Wood, 33, was arrested at the scene and charged with simple assault and resisting arrest.
The incident is being investigated as a hate or bias-motivated crime, police said.
The Anti-Defamation League condemned the incident, telling NBC Washington: “There is simply no excuse for these antisemitic acts. None of this is normal and no one should think this is okay.
“It is incumbent upon all of society to push back against antisemitism and other forms of hate,” the statement added.
On the same day as Mr Wood’s arrest, police said that multiple synagogues in the city had received threatening emails, but that the threats did not appear to be related to the attack, according to CNN.
It comes at a time when hate crimes targeting Jewish and Muslim communities have been rising across the US since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October.
In the month since the 7 October attacks, the Anti-Defamation League said it had recorded a “significant spike in antisemitic incidents”.
And between 7 October and 7 December, antisemitic incidents reached the highest level ever for a two-month period since the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) began tracking the figure back in 1979, topping 2,000.
“This terrifying pattern of antisemitic attacks has been relentless since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, with no signs of diminishing,” Jonathan Greenblatt CEO of the ADL, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights organisation, said it had received 2,171 requests for help between 7 October and 7 December.