A meeting between the federal task force to combat antisemitism and Boston city officials initially proposed for Wednesday is no longer happening, city officials told The Boston Globe.
In March, the task force told the mayors of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston that it planned to visit the cities as part of its probe of antisemitism, stating it wanted to “discuss their responses to incidents of antisemitism at schools and on college campuses in their cities over the last two years.”
On April 9, ahead of a meeting with City Hall, representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice met with Boston officials and the head of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston for a site visit, The Globe reported. The city then “asked the task force to provide more specific information on the antisemitic incidents that prompted the federal government’s involvement.”
“We continue to seek information prior to accepting a meeting with the task force,” a city spokesperson wrote in a statement on April 9 after the site visit, according to The Harvard Crimson.
Separately, Kevin Jenkins, public engagement and outreach advisor for the civil rights division of the DOJ, suggested a meeting for April 23 in multiple emails.
However, Boston officials never heard back from the task force, and the April 23 meeting was never scheduled or confirmed. (JNS sought information from the Justice Department.)
“We have not been contacted by the task force regarding a follow-up meeting,” said James Borghesani, a spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.
