New Jersey Attorney General Cautions Against Assigning Motive To Shooters Despite Anti-Semitic Online Posts
State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal warned: "During the early stages of an investigation, others may have incomplete or inaccurate information which can not only cause unnecessary panic in the community, but also undermine the integrity of an ongoing criminal investigation.”
The New York Times:
Suspect In Rampage At N.J. Kosher Market Wrote Anti-Semitic Posts
After first saying that a deadly rampage at a New Jersey kosher market was random, the authorities disclosed on Wednesday that one of the two attackers had published anti-Semitic posts online and had, in fact, targeted the site. He was also a follower of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, a fringe religious group that has expressed hostility to Jews, officials said. A rambling religious manifesto was found inside the suspect’s rental van. (Barron, Gold and Watkins, 12/11)
Politico:
Grewal Won’t Call Jersey City Attack A Hate Crime; Fulop Says ’No Other Way To Interpret It’
State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and federal officials refused during a Wednesday afternoon press conference to say whether investigators believe the attackers — a man and woman who are also suspected of fatally shooting a police detective — were motivated by hate against the Jewish community. (Hutchins, 12/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
New Jersey Shooters Targeted Kosher Grocery Store, Jersey City Mayor Says
Anderson, 47 years old, and Graham, 50, used high-powered rifles to kill three people inside the Jersey City Kosher Supermarket on Tuesday afternoon after pulling up to the store in a stolen U-Haul van, officials said. The shooters had earlier killed a police officer during a confrontation at the Bay View Cemetery about a mile away, Mr. Grewal said. Investigators also recovered a pipe bomb from the stolen van, he said, as well as digital and documentary evidence. (De Avila and Blint-Welsh, 12/11)
The New York Times:
‘I’ve Cried My Eyes Out’: Victims Of N.J. Shooting Are Mourned
For the dozens of Hasidic Jewish families who had settled in Jersey City over the past few years, the JC Kosher Supermarket served as a community hub. It was the sole kosher grocery store in the area, stocking Kedem grape juice, canned vegetables and candy. The store’s popular deli counter was run by a young couple — among the first to relocate to Jersey City from the Satmar Hasidic neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in search of more affordable housing and a bit of open space. (Otterman, 12/11)
In other news on gun violence —
The Associated Press:
As Newtown Students Grow Up, Some Turn To Activism
They were children themselves when they lost siblings, friends, and schoolmates in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Too young to comprehend the massacre, they spent years in shock and denial. Seven years later, some young people in Newtown, still struggling with the trauma, are emerging as new voices for school safety and gun violence prevention. The activism, they say, has been a way to turn something horrific into something positive. (Collins, 12/11)
Kaiser Health News:
Battling The Bullets From The Operating Room To The Community
Dr. Laurie Punch plunged her gloved hands into Sidney Taylor’s open chest in a hospital’s operating room here, pushing on his heart to make it pump again after a bullet had torn through his flesh, collarbone and lung. His pulse had faded to nothing. She needed to get his heart beating. She couldn’t let the bullet win. (Ungar, 12/12)
