Police are searching for a man who threw a Molotov cocktail at a New Jersey church early Sunday morning.
The man threw the flammable device at the front door of Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, a township about 7 miles north of Newark, at around 3:19 a.m., Bloomfield police said.
Security video recorded him turning on the device, throwing it at the door and fleeing down the driveway, authorities said, adding that the glass bottle shattered but did not damage the building.
Police went to the temple at 9:30 a.m. Sunday after a report of property damage.
Bloomfield detectives are investigating along with local prosecutors, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, authorities said.
According to NBC New York, the temple’s rabbi, Marc Katz, said in a statement: “We have done and will continue to do everything in our power to keep our community safe. Everything worked as it should. Our cameras recorded the incident and our impact resistant doors held up. But what I can’t do is convince our community not to get discouraged. There is hate everywhere, and hate wins when we let it in.”
Katz told the station that the temple recently upgraded its security with a grant from the state’s Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.
Police in Livingston, a township about 15 miles west of Bloomfield, said Sunday they were increasing patrols of local temples “and will continue to do so until more information is obtained.”
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said in a statement that his office was aware of that attempted attack and another on a church in Monmouth County on Saturday, which they are investigating “as potentially motivated by bias.” said.
It was not immediately clear if there was any link between the incidents.
“Let me be clear: there is no place for violence or hate in New Jersey and I strongly condemn these acts,” Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted.
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