Attorney General Barr meets with Jewish leaders to discuss ways to combat anti-Semitism

Attorney General William Barr, center, shakes hands with Rabbi Eli Cohen, right, at a meeting with Jewish leaders at the Boro Park Jewish Community Council, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020 in New York. Rabbi Chaim David Zweibel, left, and Rabbi David Niederman, second from right, also took part in the meeting. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

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UPDATED 11:27 AM PT — Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Attorney General William Barr met with Jewish leaders in Brooklyn, New York amid a wave of anti-Semitic attacks. The nation’s top law enforcement officer attended a gathering at the Boro Park Jewish Community Center Tuesday, where he discussed anti-Semitism and ways to combat it.

Barr said the Department of Justice has zero tolerance for this kind of violence, adding there needs to be a point of contact for reporting hate crimes at the federal level.

“I am extremely distressed by the upsurge in violent hate crimes against the Jewish community,” he stated. “I have seen a marked increase of this violence and discriminatory practices up to and including violent acts in and around the country.”

The Orthodox Jewish community has been rocked by a series of violent attacks, including a mass shooting at a kosher grocery store in Jersey City and a Hanukkah stabbing rampage at a rabbi’s home in upstate New York.

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