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Florida Man Arrested Amid Jewish Community Threats · Antisemitism Watch

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. We're also
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  Speaker 1: launching Antisemitism Watch, Mid-Atlantic, providing focused coverage from New York,
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  Speaker 1: New Jersey, Connecticut, and the Philadelphia region. Visit clockworkmedia.org slash M-A.
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  Speaker 1: We begin with a serious threat in Florida. Jerry Sneed,
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  Speaker 1: a 31-year-old Orlando resident, was arrested by the Florida Department
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  Speaker 1: of Law Enforcement for allegedly posting social media threats. including
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  Speaker 1: images of a new Jewish residential community and a firearm.
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  Speaker 1: According to FDLE, Sneed faces charges of written or electronic
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  Speaker 1: threats to kill and terrorism. The community, established this October,
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  Speaker 1: is expected to comprise around 1,300 housing units. Reporting on
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  Speaker 1: this indicates the investigation is active. In politics, a public
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  Speaker 1: feud is escalating tensions between Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate candidate
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  Speaker 1: Abdul El-Sayed and his former primary rival, Representative Haley Stevens.
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  Speaker 1: Stevens is criticizing El-Sayed for not condemning a political action
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  Speaker 1: committee advertisement by Rebellion PAC, which she argues links rising
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  Speaker 1: grocery prices to Israel. Stevens told the New York Times,
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  Speaker 1: We are not going to say that the cost of
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  Speaker 1: groceries is because of Jews and the Jewish state. She
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  Speaker 1: also noted that El-Sayed himself has used rhetoric akin to
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  Speaker 1: blaming Israel for Michigan's financial ills, stating, according to reporting,
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  Speaker 1: The ad did not invent its argument. It dramatized one Dr.
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  Speaker 1: El-Sayed has made in his own words throughout this campaign. El-Sayed,
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  Speaker 1: in turn, accused Stevens of relitigating their primary and highlighted
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  Speaker 1: his victory despite significant outside spending. His campaign also faced
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  Speaker 1: scrutiny for airing a clip featuring commentator Tucker Carlson. Abdul
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  Speaker 1: El-Sayed was later asked to respond to Stevens' concerns about
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  Speaker 1: the ad. This development risks alienating Jewish voters, with one
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  Speaker 1: report noting how antisemitism has put a reliable vote at
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  Speaker 1: risk for Democrats. Separately, the BBC has admitted a vetting
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  Speaker 1: failure following its decision to host an individual described as
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  Speaker 1: an anti-Semitic Iran apologist. The guest made controversial remarks comparing
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  Speaker 1: Palestinian actions to Zelensky's aid efforts, reportedly within hours of
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  Speaker 1: the October 7th attacks. Online, antisemitic conspiracy theories are falsely
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  Speaker 1: accusing Israel of orchestrating a deadly train crash in Spain.
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  Speaker 1: The disaster near Toledo killed at least 69 people. Despite
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  Speaker 1: no evidence of Israeli involvement, social media users circulated fabricated
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  Speaker 1: threats attributed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and claimed Israeli
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  Speaker 1: intelligence sabotaged the railway systems in retaliation for Spain's policies
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  Speaker 1: toward Israel. Spanish fact-checking organizations, including Neutral and EFE Verifica,
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  Speaker 1: have debunked these claims, confirming Netanyahu never made statements threatening
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  Speaker 1: train accidents or attacks on Spanish infrastructure. This spread of
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  Speaker 1: conspiracy theories occurs amid deteriorating relations between Israel and Spain.
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  Speaker 1: In institutional responses, the US Congress has launched a probe
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  Speaker 1: into antisemitism at three prominent universities, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania,
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  Speaker 1: and MIT. Meanwhile, the president and CEO of the American
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  Speaker 1: Psychological Association, have rejected findings from a House report alleging
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  Speaker 1: the association was co-opted by anti-Israel and anti-Jewish activists. A
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  Speaker 1: spokesperson for the House Committee on Education and Workforce told
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  Speaker 1: JNS that the APA's actions create a harmful environment for
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  Speaker 1: Jewish members and risk undermining the credibility of the entire field.
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  Speaker 1: The report detailed issues such as the removal of references
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  Speaker 1: to terrorism from an October 7 statement following objections from
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  Speaker 1: an affiliated group. The Anti-Defamation League stated that antisemitism at
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  Speaker 1: the APA is embedded in its ranks and in its leadership,
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  Speaker 1: and that the organization failed to act on concerns for
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  Speaker 1: over a year. I'm Rachel Adler, thank you for listening
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  Speaker 1: to Antisemitism Watch. For focused coverage from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: and the Philadelphia region, listen to Antisemitism Watch, midatlantic at clockworkmedia.org
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  Speaker 1: slash ma. Follow Antisemitism Watch in your podcast app so
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  Speaker 1: you don't miss the next update. This report was generated
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  Speaker 1: with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important
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  Speaker 1: details with primary sources.