Synagogues on edge after weekend terror attack
Synagogues and mosques across the United States are on edge due to the recent shootings over the weekend and the terrorist threat in Los Angeles on Monday. The past few months, religious groups have been targeted in mass shootings.
Temple Emanuel President Dale Spencer is deeply saddened and concern by the events over the weekend. He’s saddened, “not only because [they] share the same faith, but because it’s an attack on all people of faith.”
Over the weekend, a man open fired inside a Chabad synagogue in San Diego, leaving one woman dead and three others injured. Monday, a man in Los Angeles was arrested for plotting an attack on several religious groups. Both of these events come less than a week after Passover.
Unfortunately, Pocatello is no stranger to hate crimes. Just three years ago, anti-Muslim hate recordings, home burglaries, and hate messages left many international students at ISU feeling unsafe.
“It’s not just a challenge for people of faith, this is against society in general and that’s the challenge, what do we do?” Spencer said.
“So we’ve had the discussions but there’s been nobody who’s really been alarmed but we are aware and we acknowledge the reality that we need to have the discussion to be aware.”
However, it’s Spencer says the Pocatello community has been very supportive.
“I’m a member of the interfaith group here in Pocatello and we have a very strong interfaith council and that’s a great thing so we know each other. And I was honored to be a part of the Latter-day Saints’ groundbreaking for their temple. So we’re part of this community and we feel a part of the fabric of this community that makes it so wonderful. So, we’re part of it,” Spencer said.
