St. Louis Antisemitic Attack Sparks FBI Hate Crime Probe

Graphic footage from St. Louis shows cars “set on fire and destroyed” in what authorities are calling an antisemitic attack. The video was reviewed by U.S. Justice Department official Leo Terrell, who responded, stating, “Hateful graffiti outside the family’s home accused him of being a murderer and called for death to the Israel Defense Forces,” Terrell wrote. “What I saw in the graphic videos, I saw hate,” Terrell told JNS. “I saw hate because of one’s religion, and I saw hate for an American who served as an IDF member in the Israeli army. That’s what I saw.”

Terrell wrote on social media that the Israeli embassy told him about a “horrific antisemitic attack” in St. Louis, targeting a U.S. citizen who served in the Israeli military, as well as his family and friends. On social media, Terrell wrote that he spoke directly with the family whose property was attacked. “I am outraged. Antisemitic violence has no place in America, not in St. Louis and not anywhere,” he wrote. “If you commit antisemitic hate crimes, you will be caught, and you will be held accountable.”

“I’m certainly not going to tolerate it as the head of the task force… So once I saw it, I immediately contacted the FBI,” he told JNS, adding, “The FBI—I cannot disclose what happened, but they are on the ground along with local authorities, and the perpetrators are going to face justice.”

The Clayton Police Department, which is adjacent to St. Louis, stated it was probing a “suspicious fire and hate crime.” “Just after 3 a.m., responding officers discovered that three vehicles had been damaged by a fire, believed to have been intentionally set,” the department stated. “Additionally, officers located antisemitic graffiti written in the roadway. No injuries were reported.” The department believes the victim was “specifically targeted.” The FBI and the St. Louis Regional Bomb and Arson Unit are assisting.

Terrell stated that one must “be in denial” to doubt that “antisemitism is rampant.” He said, “People are turning their backs on this.” He credits the Trump administration for a more aggressive response. “We’re trying to provide a deterrent to these haters, and there are a lot of them,” he said.

“This is pure, unadulterated hate,” Terrell said. “Please quote this,” he added, “there is no other president who has been a better friend to Jewish Americans than Donald J. Trump. I can guarantee you we’re focused.”

Antisemitic hate crimes are on the rise, and anti-Jewish incidents make up 69 percent of all religiously-motivated incidents in the United States., according to the FBI’s recently released 2024 Hate Crime Report. California, New Jersey, and New York have seen the most antisemitic hate crimes. After Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Missouri’s Jewish community experienced an uptick in antisemitic incidents. According to the Anti-Defamation League’s annual audit in 2023, antisemitic incidents more than doubled in the state that year.

Danny Cohn, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, called the crime “a hateful act of intimidation and the consequence of the dangerous rise in antisemitism” and Clayton Mayor Bridget McAndrew said the city would “not tolerate harassment, intimidation or violence based on someone’s nationality, race, religion or ideology.”

Jewish groups in the region, including the Anti-Defamation League – Heartland and the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, said in a statement that they condemn “in the strongest terms the attack on members of our community [Monday] night,” according to St. Louis Public Radio.

“This is more than vandalism; it is a hateful act of intimidation and only the latest example of what happens when antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric are normalized,” the statement continued. “Antisemitism is a social ill that must be rejected by all of society.”

–JNS with Permission and Metro Voice.