Jewish groups denounce fatal shooting at San Diego mosque, say it proves need for security funding

Jewish groups are denouncing a fatal shooting at a mosque in San Diego in which three people, including a security guard, were killed. They are also saying the attack, which follows others on synagogues, underscores a need for more federal funding for security at houses of worship. 

Police in San Diego said they are investigating the attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego as a hate crime. Police Chief Scott Wahl said two teenagers, aged 17 and 19, who appeared to have carried out the attack were found dead of self-inflicted gunshot wounds in a car nearby. 

Jesse Gabriel, Chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, said in a statement, “We are heartbroken by today’s attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego. Islamophobia has no place in California or anywhere in this country. We are committed to working with our colleagues to strengthen protections for houses of worship and combat hate-motivated violence.” 

The attack, which occurred at about 12:30 local time, sent five schools into lockdown, including a Hebrew charter school. 

“We’re safe and we’re following the direction of the police,” a representative for Kavod Hebrew Charter School told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency by phone on Monday afternoon. Kavod is a non-religious bilingual K-8 school that employs a number of Jewish and Israeli educators. 

A synagogue that houses a school in an adjacent neighbourhood also said it was briefly locked down in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. 

The mosque attack comes two months after a man rammed an explosives-laden truck into one of the largest synagogues in the United States, Temple Israel in Michigan. There, the synagogue’s robust security training was credited with halting the attack. Children were inside the adjacent preschool at the time. 

“The images coming from San Diego are all too familiar to us,” Temple Israel said in a message to its community posted to social media. It said that one of its rabbis, Jen Lader, was in Washington, DC, to lobby for $1 billion (R16.6 billion) in federal security funding for houses of worship. 

Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) said it had more than 400 local Jewish leaders in Washington to lobby for the security funding, which it said was necessary to protect religious communities from threats that are “real, urgent, and growing.” The $1 billion [R16.6 billion] ask is a centrepiece of JFNA’s response to growing security concerns and would represent more than a doubling of federal spending on security needs for houses of worship. 

“To anyone who feels this is excessive, what happened to Temple Israel two months ago, and now, the Islamic Center of San Diego, proves that it is not optional funding,” Temple Israel said. “Every dollar will be necessary to protect houses of worship all over the country.” 

Imam Taha Hassane of the Islamic Center of San Diego, which includes a mosque and the adjacent Al Rashid School, said teachers, students, and school staff were safe. 

“At this moment, all that I can say is sending our prayers and standing in solidarity with all the families in our community here, and also the other mosques and all the places of worship in our beautiful city,” Hassane said during a press conference Monday afternoon. “They should always be protected. It is extremely outrageous to target a place of worship. Our Islamic centre is a place of worship. People come to the Islamic centre to pray, to celebrate, to learn.” 

Law enforcement across the country is tightening security measures in response to the attack in San Diego. 

“While there is currently no known nexus to New York City or specific threats to NYC houses of worship, out of an abundance of caution, the NYPD is increasing deployments to mosques across the city,” the New York Police Department said in a statement.