(The Center Square) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is deploying more state police personnel to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force amid an uptick in hate crimes across the state.
Hochul said the state is diverting another $2.5 million to the New York State Police to deploy ten additional investigators in New York City, Albany, Buffalo and Rochester, which she described as “at risk” communities. NYPD officials will also be deployed at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The governor made the announcement following an “emergency meeting” with the state’s religious leaders and law enforcement officials.
“Surging resources to the Joint Terrorism Task Force is a critical step to ensure New Yorkers are protected from domestic and international threats,” she said in a statement.
Antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate incidents and crimes have skyrocketed in New York and nationally since the war between Israel and Hamas began, according to advocacy groups, who say some of the confrontations have been violent.
The data shows the uptick in violence and intimidation against Jewish and Arab Americans has coincided with the Middle East conflict and comes in the wake of an increase in hate crimes nationally in recent years.
New York authorities said the number of bias incidents investigated by the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force increased by 124% in October, led by a 214% spike in anti-Jewish incidents.
There have also been several high-profile attacks on Muslim and Palestinian New Yorkers, with hate crimes against Asian New Yorkers remaining elevated over the past few years.
Hochul has pledged support for Israel following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that killed more than 1,400 Israelis, even criticizing pro-Palestinan protests, but she has also decried acts of discrimination and hate in the wake of the conflict.
She has also directed state police to monitor potential targets in the state, including synagogues, yeshivas, Jewish museums and cultural centers and other at-risk sites.
“The rise in hate crimes began instantaneously,” Hochul said in remarks on Monday. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire life.”
Nationally, protests both in support of Israel or Palestinians have roiled U.S. college campuses since the war began. Both Jewish and Muslim students have complained of bias incidents.
President Joe Biden has condemned what he says is an alarming increase in antisemitic and anti-Islamic incidents at schools and colleges. The White House has been talking with campus law enforcement officials to offer support and address threats.
FBI Director Christopher Wray warned recently of “violent extremists” in the U.S. and abroad drawing inspiration from the Hamas attack.