Readout of Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division’s Meeting with Jewish Community Stakeholders

The Justice Department yesterday convened its quarterly interagency meeting with Jewish community stakeholders. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland provided remarks with those at the meeting, underscoring the department’s commitment to addressing hate crimes. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division outlined relevant enforcement efforts across the department and highlighted actions to prevent and combat discrimination and hate crimes. Assistant Secretary of Education Catherine Lhamon of the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights also addressed the attendees and highlighted efforts to ensure safe learning environments at schools, colleges, and universities.

Justice Department leadership, including representatives from the Civil Rights Division, FBI, Community Relations Service, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Privacy & Civil Liberty, and the Office of Public Integrity, heard from participating organizations about hate crimes and incidents, campus safety, and civil rights protections around the election, among other areas. Representatives from other federal government agencies were also in attendance, including Officer Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and representatives from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Combating hate crimes, protecting religious freedom, and addressing claims of discrimination are among the division’s top priorities. Yesterday’s meeting represents the department’s ongoing efforts to engage with organizations and stakeholders on issues affecting Jewish communities.

The department has continued to prosecute hate crimes, including recent cases involving a North Carolina man charged with making antisemitic threats to a rabbi in Georgia; California man who pleaded guilty to shooting two Jewish men, leaving an Los Angeles synagogue; Michigan man convicted and sentenced for conspiring with other members of a white supremacist group, the Base, to victimize Jewish and Black people, including desecrating a Jewish synagogue in Hancock, Michigan, with Neo-Nazi symbols; Mississippi man who pleaded guilty to cyberstalking and harassing synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses in Pennsylvania; Indiana man sentenced for sending violent antisemitic threats to the Anti-Defamation League; and the leaders of the Terrorgram Collective, a transnational terrorist group for using digital platforms to solicit others to engage in hate crimes and terrorist attacks against immigrants and other groups based on hate-fueled bigotry and white supremacy.

In May, Assistant Attorney General Clarke recognized Jewish Heritage Month and delivered remarks at the annual federal inter-agency Holocaust Remembrance Program.

In March, the department hosted a community safety webinar for Jewish community stakeholders, during which the department released resource documents designed to help the public better understand federal civil rights laws, including laws that prohibit violence and discrimination on the basis of religion and national origin, and protections afforded by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a law that prohibits discriminatory land use decisions, and Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in public accommodations.

If you believe that you or someone else experienced religious or national origin discrimination, you can report a civil rights violation online at civilrights.justice.gov. If you believe you are a victim or a witness of a hate crime, you can report it to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or submitting a tip at tips.fbi.gov. Learn more about the department’s work on hate crimes here.

Assistant Attorney General Clarke meets with Jewish stakeholders during the quarterly interagency meeting.

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs

Source: Justice.gov