A car was burned and heavily damaged overnight Tuesday in Clayton, Missouri, in an incident currently being investigated as a hate crime. (KMOV)
"No American should live in fear because of their political or religious beliefs," Rep. August Pfluger, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee’s counterterrorism and intelligence subcommittee, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Yet, this week, a Jewish American — with a record of courageous service supporting one of our nation’s closest allies — had their private property set on fire by extremists seeking to intimidate them and their family. Heightened antisemitic and anti-Israel acts of violence on U.S. soil are becoming alarmingly more frequent."
"These are not isolated incidents, but part of a broader and deeply troubling surge in hatred fueled by propaganda online and on college campuses," Pfluger said.
Leo Terrell, head of the Justice Department’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, said in a Tuesday X post that the attack occurred outside the home of a U.S. citizen who served in the IDF.
Terrell also said the FBI was immediately contacted and is working in tandem with local authorities to investigate the matter. Local authorities said they are probing the attack as a hate crime.
The FBI and the White House did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Pfluger has repeatedly cautioned about the rise of antisemitic violence, and the House Homeland Security Committee met with stakeholders and law enforcement to address the matter during a closed-door congressional roundtable on July 22.
Additionally, Pfluger held a hearing in June on the matter following a terrorist attack in Colorado targeting a grassroots group advocating for the release of Israeli hostages, and a May shooting that killed two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington.
RISE IN ANTISEMITIC EXTREMISM FUELS WAVE OF TERROR PLOTS IN THE UNITED STATES SINCE 2020
University of Chicago anti-Israel protest (Getty)
The group recorded 9,354 antisemitic instances of harassment, assault and vandalism in the U.S. in 2024 — a 5% increase from the 8,873 incidents recorded in 2023 and a 344% increase in the past five years. The number of incidents is the highest the group has recorded since 1979, when the group first started tracking these cases.
Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday that he is "deeply concerned" about the increase in antisemitic violence and terrorism — including this most recent attack.
"There is no place in America for this vile hatred and intimidation, but it has surged in the years following the devastating, cowardly, and unprovoked October 7 attacks by Hamas," Garbarino said.
Fox News' Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox
Subscribed
You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter!
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-gop-fight-antisemitic-violence-amid-latest-fbi-probe-sharp-contrast-bidens-silence