A 17-year-old male has been arrested for sending threatening antisemitic emails to fellow students at Renaissance Charter School in Jackson Heights, Queens, according to the New York City Police Department.
On Monday, the NYPD 115th Precinct responded to a 911 call of a “possible bias incident” inside the school, where officers were informed “of an individual that disseminated antisemitic emails,” according to a police report provided to JNS.
The email allegedly stated, “At 2 pm we will rise up and kill all the Jews in this school and the city. F**k the Jews,” local outlet QNS reported. The message was sent under the name of a student who attends the school.
The suspect, who has not been publicly identified, has been charged with making a terroristic threat and aggravated harassment as a hate crime. The investigation is being handled by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force.
“A teenager in New York was arrested for explicitly calling for the murder of Jews,” stated Hen Mazzig, senior fellow at the Tel Aviv Institute. “When hatred reaches students this young, antisemitism is not just alive, it is thriving and spreading to younger generations like a disease.”
Jessica Ramos, a Democratic state senator who represents District 13, wrote that the threat is “unacceptable and will be taken seriously.”
“Our Jewish students and families deserve safety, dignity and peace of mind, and we will continue working with school leaders and community partners to ensure their protection,” Ramos stated.
The NYPD told JNS that police responded to a second threat made against the school on Wednesday morning. Officers arrived at the school and were “informed that an unidentified individual called the school and made threats,” the NYPD said, reporting no arrests or injuries.
“Today, for the second time this week, a violent threat was allegedly made against Jewish students at this same school,” the ADL stated.
“The classroom should be a safe haven for children, not a place where they are forced to confront hate,” the organization added, thanking the NYPD and the Hate Crimes Task Force for the “quick response and investigation.”
