America is facing the highest risk of a terrorist attack in years following Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion that left more than 1,200 Israelis dead, the head of the FBI warned Tuesday.
FBI director Christopher Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee that elevated threat levels are causing “blinking red lights everywhere” and the bureau was “working around the clock” to identify potential attacks inspired by Hamas.
“The threat level has gone to a whole nother level since Oct. 7,” Wray said. “I have never seen a time where all the threats are all elevated, all at exactly the same time.”
While the FBI has yet to find any evidence that Hamas “has the intent or capability to conduct operations inside the US,” Wray warned that supporters or sympathizers of the terrorist group could launch attacks on the group’s behalf.
America’s bases around the Middle East have already been subjected to strikes following the outbreak of war, with the Pentagon confirming at least 74 attacks on US bases and troops since Oct. 17.
While Wray said that the FBI was working to ensure no attacks occur domestically, he noted that the war has also led to a “troubling trend” of growing antisemitic and Islamophobic threats in the US.
The Anti-Defamation League recorded at least 321 antisemitic incidents in the US between Oct.7 and Oct. 23, a nearly 400% increase. New York City alone saw a whopping 214% surge in anti-Jewish offenses in October compared to the previous year.
The spike came as hate crimes against Jewish people were already soaring, with 1,124 cases reported across the nation between 2021 and 2022, the highest ever recorded by the FBI.
Wray previously warned Congress about antisemitism reaching “historic levels” in America amid the war.
“In fact, our statistics would indicate that for a group that represents only about 2.4% of the American public, they account for something like 60% of all religious-based hate crimes,” Wray said.