FBI identifies 'source of threat' to New Jersey synagogue

The FBI says it has identified the "source of the threat" made against a New Jersey area synagogue.

The individual "no longer poses a danger to the community", the agency said in a tweet, without providing further details.

In a rare warning issued on Thursday, the FBI had referred to "credible information of a broad threat" to synagogues in the state.

Last year, a record 2,717 anti-Semitic incidents were reported in the US.

It was the highest number since the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an anti-hate monitoring group, began counting such incidents in 1979.

Thursday's warning by the FBI's field office in Newark, the largest and most populous city in the state, was prompted by an online post with anti-Semitic comments.

The young man behind the post was located on Thursday night and has been interviewed by agents. Officials are yet to name him or elaborate on the specific threat he posed.

James Dennehy, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Newark office, reportedly told faith leaders on a conference call Friday that the man appeared to have acted alone.

"He expressed radical, extremist views and ideology, as well as an extreme amount of hate against the Jewish community," Mr Dennehy said, according to the New York Times.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said the threat had "violated one of the most fundamental tenets of our nation - the right to worship".

"While this specific threat may be mitigated, we know this remains a tense time for our Jewish communities," he said. "We will not be indifferent. We will remain vigilant."

The ADL reported 370 anti-Semitic incidents in New Jersey in 2021, a record for the state and also the second-highest number behind New York.

In April this year, a New Jersey man was charged with federal hate crimes for a series of violent assaults around Lakewood, which is home to a large community of Orthodox Jewish families.

Other incidents involved harassment and vandalism, according to the ADL.

The threats come at a time of several high-profile incidents of anti-Jewish bigotry nationwide.

Kyrie Irving, a player for the Brooklyn Nets basketball team, has been suspended after tweeting a link about a film featuring anti-Semitic tropes.

Kanye West was last month locked out of his Twitter and Instagram accounts after posting anti-Semitic messages.

A hate group later hung banners over a Los Angeles motorway expressing support for the musician's anti-Semitic comments.