Two New York men arrested for threatening Jews and synagogues

A 21-year-old Akwebog resident was arrested at Penn Station after he made online threats to attack a New York synagogue. And these threats, according to Mayor Eric Adams, were not empty. ABC 7.

Christopher Brown told investigators he had a "sick temper". He tweeted that he was going to ask the priest "should I become a husband or shoot a synagogue and die," according to the criminal lawsuit.

Police seized from him a Glock semi-automatic firearm with an extended 30-round magazine and a laser sight, a large hunting knife, a black ski mask and a Nazi armband.

“It was not an empty, but a real threat,” Adams said.

The NYPD, the NY State Police and two major departments on Long Island have stepped up security at synagogues and other Jewish institutions as a result of the threats. Adams also said additional protection for the city's 1,6 million Jews would continue during Hanukkah.

“We're always worried about copycats,” Adams said. “No one should ever feel threatened by entering a synagogue or place of worship.”

Brown and another man, 22-year-old Matthew Marer, were arrested on November 18 in the evening. MTA police officers spotted them at the Pennsylvania Station entrance upon notification by the Joint Counterterrorism Task Force.

“They had full descriptions from other law enforcement agencies,” said MTA chief Janno Lieber.

It all started with the Mitchell Silber group, part of the United Jewish Appeal/Federation.

Zilber is a former NYPD intelligence officer. He now runs a private initiative to protect 2000 Jewish institutions across the city.

On Friday morning, one of his analysts sat down at a computer programmed to search the Internet for certain keywords.

“There is a whole list of warnings that came in overnight. And our analysts are looking at them,” Zilber said.

One poster in particular stood out for the wording of the tweets.

“It looked like something that could really be done,” Zilber said.

The NYPD and the FBI asked Twitter for the user's IP address. And by the evening they sent his picture to every policeman in the city.

Since billionaire Elon Musk's recent takeover of Twitter, hate-filled tweets have quintupled in just a few weeks.

“The conversation just this afternoon was, you know, like in Jaws: I think we need a bigger boat. Should we do it 24/7? How can we cover this volume,” Zilber said.

According to the FBI, Brown was alleged to have posed a threat to an unspecified synagogue.

Marer was subsequently identified as his accomplice.

“We have no information about any threat to the Jewish community in connection with this case,” FBI spokesman Michael Driscoll said.

Brown and Marer both pleaded not guilty to government charges. Federal prosecutors are still deciding whether additional charges are appropriate.

Brown told police that he runs a white supremacist group on Twitter. And, according to him, she is “really cool.”

The man, who lived with Brown, his sister and mother, said the suspect suffered from schizophrenia. Paul Higgins added that the mother and sister of the suspect are also not all right.

Neighbors who knew Marer kept their mouths shut on Monday. But they said they were shocked because he himself is Jewish and his grandfather survived the Holocaust.

Brown met with Marer at St. Patrick's Cathedral and bought a $650 pistol in Pennsylvania.

“Potential tragedy was averted when they were intercepted by police at the Pennsylvania Station. Especially considering that online publications indicated an intention to use these weapons in a Manhattan synagogue, said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “The hateful anti-Semitic attacks on synagogues are deplorable.”

On the subject: A teenager threatened Jews and synagogues in New Jersey: he was arrested

In a Nov. 20 tweet, New York Gov. J. Kathy Hokul said she has directed the state police to step up support for communities that may be the targets of hate crimes.

Many in the Jewish community are on edge. After all, two weeks ago, a teenager from New Jersey published a threat on the Internet.