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Federal Charges for Antisemitic Mailings · 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. Find out more
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  Speaker 1: at clockworkmedia.org slash M-A. We begin with federal charges against
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  Speaker 1: a Charlotte man for allegedly mailing antisemitic letters containing violent threats.
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  Speaker 1: According to reporting from Hoodline.com, 58-year-old Brian Charles faces one
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  Speaker 1: federal count of mailing-threatening communications. Investigators say he sent these letters,
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  Speaker 1: which included disturbing imagery and language like, I am going
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  Speaker 1: to destroy many Jews, to organizations and individuals across the
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  Speaker 1: country during June and July. Recipients included the Holocaust Memorial
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  Speaker 1: Miami Beach and officials with the American Jewish Committee, reports JNS.
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  Speaker 1: Federal authorities reportedly matched a latent fingerprint on one letter
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  Speaker 1: to Charles, who has prior convictions for threatening communications. This
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  Speaker 1: case emerges as FBI data shows a stark rise in
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  Speaker 1: hate crimes, with nearly 2,000 anti-Jewish incidents recorded in 2024,
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  Speaker 1: according to JNS. As civil rights advocate Ari Nauman told WBTV,
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  Speaker 1: such threats contribute to fear and compel Jewish organizations to
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  Speaker 1: divert resources to security. Turning to accountability for past incidents,
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  Speaker 1: in Colorado, Mohamed Sabri Solomon has pleaded guilty to federal
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  Speaker 1: hate crime charges resulting in death. As reported by ClevelandJewishNews.com
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  Speaker 1: and JPost.com, Solomon firebombed a pro-Israel rally in Boulder on
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  Speaker 1: June 1, 2025. The attack killed 82-year-old Karen Diamond and
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  Speaker 1: injured more than a dozen others. Solomon admitted his motive
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  Speaker 1: was Jew hatred. targeting the group because of their actual
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  Speaker 1: or perceived Israeli national origin and Jewish religion, according to
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  Speaker 1: the U.S. Department of Justice. He is already serving a
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  Speaker 1: life sentence for murder and faces additional federal penalties. Prosecutors
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  Speaker 1: stated he yelled, Free Palestine, during the attack. In France,
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  Speaker 1: a court in Avignon handed a six-month suspended sentence to
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  Speaker 1: Irish citizen Patrick O'Brien. Jpost.com reports O'Brien was convicted of
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  Speaker 1: making anti-Semitic death threats, and justifying crimes against humanity, including remarking,
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  Speaker 1: It's a shame Hitler didn't finish the job. He had
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  Speaker 1: threatened to kill a Jewish couple after an argument about
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  Speaker 1: Ireland's policy toward Israel. Jewish organizations criticized the sentence as
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  Speaker 1: too lenient, arguing it minimizes the gravity of his actions,
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  Speaker 1: which included threats to a woman whose family members were
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  Speaker 1: murdered at Auschwitz. In institutional responses, the Anti-Defamation League issued
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  Speaker 1: a statement following the release of a House Education and
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  Speaker 1: Workforce Committee report detailing antisemitism within the American Psychological Association,
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  Speaker 1: or APA. ADL confirms the report found antisemitism, embedded in
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  Speaker 1: its ranks and in its leadership. Citing the APA's denial
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  Speaker 1: and downplaying of the October 7th attack and promotion of
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  Speaker 1: biased anti-Israel ideologies, the report also documented the silencing of
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  Speaker 1: Jewish members. Meanwhile, The Philadelphia school district is initiating termination
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  Speaker 1: proceedings against its social studies curriculum director, Ismail Jimenez, due
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  Speaker 1: to allegations of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment in the curriculum.
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  Speaker 1: The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Superintendent Tony B. Watlington, S.R.,
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  Speaker 1: discussed the matter with Congress amid a federal probe. The
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  Speaker 1: Jewish Federation of Philadelphia has raised concerns about Jimenez's conduct
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  Speaker 1: for years. Internationally, Australia's Envoy to Combat Antisemitism has proposed
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  Speaker 1: significant policy measures, including visa holder checks and face covering bans,
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  Speaker 1: according to reporting on YouTube.com. These proposals come 10 months
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  Speaker 1: after the Bondi attack. And in the US, polling data
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  Speaker 1: cited by Mondomerica.com indicates a significant shift in public opinion,
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  Speaker 1: with more Americans now on the Palestinian side and growing
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  Speaker 1: unfavourable views of Israel. particularly among younger voters and Democrats.
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  Speaker 1: On the political front, an analysis from the American Enterprise
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  Speaker 1: Institute suggests that antisemitism has emerged from the shadows to
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  Speaker 1: influence American public life, and the 2026 election campaigns, mentioning
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  Speaker 1: figures like Abdul El-Sayed and Tucker Carlson. The AEI article
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  Speaker 1: notes antagonism towards Israel and Zionists morphing into broader fear
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  Speaker 1: and loathing of Jewish people. In a related development, Reported
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  Speaker 1: by jewishinsider.com, Representative Haley Stevens is conditioning her support for
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  Speaker 1: candidate El-Said on his condemnation of anti-Semitic ads, highlighting the
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  Speaker 1: political stakes. On campuses and in educational institutions, incidents in
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  Speaker 1: Brazil highlight rising concerns. Aljamina reports on a Jewish teenager
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  Speaker 1: facing Nazi salutes and swastikas in Sao Paulo schools, and
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  Speaker 1: a student excluded from a university association for Zionist views
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  Speaker 1: in Sao Paulo. In Norway, a European human rights watchdog, ECRI,
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  Speaker 1: has urged the government to prioritize strengthening teacher training to
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  Speaker 1: combat increased harassment and bullying of Jewish pupils following October 7, 2023,
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  Speaker 1: according to jpost.com. Internationally, a new human rights monitoring report
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  Speaker 1: from the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance, detailed by jpost.com,
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  Speaker 1: confirms a massive surge in antisemitism across the Czech Republic.
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  Speaker 1: since October 2023. Antisemitic incidents there climbed sharply from under 1,000
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  Speaker 1: in 2020 to nearly 5,000 in 2024, with the vast
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  Speaker 1: majority involving online hate speech holding the local Jewish community
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  Speaker 1: responsible for the actions of the Israeli government. Holocaust denial
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  Speaker 1: and distortion also saw a significant rise. In rhetoric related
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  Speaker 1: to Israel, signs displayed at a recent NHL game reading
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  Speaker 1: Israel Kills and Free America from Israel led to the
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  Speaker 1: ejection of fans and condemnation from the St. Louis Blues organization.
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  Speaker 1: As reported by JTA, the team's owner called the messages
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  Speaker 1: vile and unforgivable. Finally, a look at positive developments and responses.
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  Speaker 1: Gillian Segal has outlined a detailed plan to combat what
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  Speaker 1: she terms fashionable antisemitism in Australia, as reported by Thaustralian.como.
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  Speaker 1: And in a notable institutional response, the Sint, Louis Blue's
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  Speaker 1: swift condemnation of antisemitic signage at their arena, demonstrates a
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  Speaker 1: commitment to rejecting hate speech. I'm Rachel Adler, thank you
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  Speaker 1: for listening to Antisemitism Watch. For focused coverage from New York,
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  Speaker 1: New Jersey, Connecticut, and the Philadelphia region, listen to Antisemitism Watch.
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  Speaker 1: MidAtlantic at ClockworkMedia.org slash MA. Follow Antisemitism Watch in your
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  Speaker 1: podcast app, so you don't miss the next update. This
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  Speaker 1: report was generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies.
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  Speaker 1: Please verify important details with primary sources.