Hanukkah
RIVERSIDE (CNS) – The Riverside Police Department was increasing patrols around Jewish facilities and Hanukkah events Monday following a deadly attack in Australia, where as many as 15 people were killed while celebrating the first day of the Jewish holiday.
“We are aware of the shooting and police will be driving by locations of interest throughout Riverside,” a Riverside police dispatcher told City News Service.
The Chabad of Temecula was scheduled to host a Menorah Lighting event Sunday at 4 p.m. at 28250 Ynez Road. An official there told CNS that there would be police presence and armed security at the event as a result of the attack.
The shooting, which authorities described as a targeted antisemitic attack, took place at about 6:45 p.m. local time Sunday at Sydney’s Bondi Beach as hundreds of Jews gathered for a Hanukkah celebration. Authorities also said there were two known suspects: One was killed and the other was said to be hospitalized in critical condition.
Australian officials later said the deceased suspect was a 50-year-old man, and the injured suspect was his 24-year-old son, identified as Naveed Akram.
“The deadly attack on Jews celebrating Hanukkah in Australia is another tragic incident in the horrific rise in antisemitic violence around the world,” Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Palm Desert, said in a statement issued Sunday.
“Jews have a right to join together and practice their faith — period. We must do more to protect that right. We must speak out against antisemitism wherever it exists. I am praying for all of those killed, injured, and affected by this attack, and for an end to this evil hatred and violence,” Calvert continued.
The national Muslim Public Affairs Council condemned the attack “in the strongest possible terms. … Events meant to celebrate faith, community, and peace should never devolve into scenes of terror and loss. We mourn with the families who have lost loved ones and stand in heartfelt solidarity with the Jewish community in Sydney and around the world. Antisemitism and violence have no place in our societies.”
President Donald Trump also condemned the attack Sunday, while encouraging Jews to “celebrate proudly — be proud of who you are,” according to Fox News.
Trump also praised a Muslim bystander who reportedly charged one of the gunmen and took his gun away before being shot himself, apparently by another gunman. The man, identified as 43-year-old Ahmed Al Ahmed, can be see in dramatic news video rushing one of the shooters and wrestling the gun away, then pointing it at the man he disarmed.
“Very, very brave person, who went and frontally attacked one of the shooters and saved a lot of lives,” Trump said. “Very brave person, right now in the hospital, wounded. Great respect to the man that did that.
On a more festive note, the city of Moreno Valley, which oversees the lighting color of the massive “M” on Box Springs Mountain, lit up the M blue and white Sunday in celebration of Hanukkah.
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