The shootings initially seemed like banditry. Two days after the death of four people, in addition to the two suspects, in a kosher grocery store in Jersey City, New Jersey, the authorities confirmed that the case was treated as an act "Fueled by anti-Semitism" and "Hate of the police", thursday 12th December.
"We think the suspects had views of hatred of Jews and hatred of the police force," said New Jersey State Attorney Gurbir Grewal, based on the evidence collected and statements of the witnesses interviewed.
The attack had transformed a neighborhood of this city of the suburbs of New York, Tuesday afternoon, into a war scene. More than 100 shots were exchanged in more than two hours between the police and the shooters entering the grocery store, while schools and hospitals in the neighborhood were closed, their occupants entrenched inside, At nightfall. "I confirm that we treat this case as an act of internal terrorism fueled by anti-Semitism and anti-police forces", added the prosecutor.
Heavily armed shooters
Mr. Grewal also indicated that the shooters – a man and a woman – had "Expressed an interest" for the organization of the Black Hebrew Israelites. This highly fragmented group has been described in the past as an extremist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an association that tracks US extremist activity. The New Jersey State Attorney pointed out, however, that for the time being there was no evidence that they belonged to this or any other organization.
The shooters, who were a couple, according to American media, were heavily armed: the investigators found five weapons they seem to have used, including a semi-automatic weapon type AR-15, that would have used the first shooter entering the grocery store, and a rifle handled by the second.
The shooting began at midday near a city cemetery when a detective investigating a homicide approached the van where the two suspects were. He was the first shot. The shooters then drove to the grocery store, about 1.5 km away. Once parked, they immediately went to the grocery store, the prosecutor said.
"A growing trend towards violent anti-Semitism"
The three persons found dead have, according to available evidence, "Been shot a few minutes after the suspects entered the store," he added. A fourth person, present in the store when the shooting started, was hit, but his wounds are not serious, had indicated the day before the authorities.
The shooting sparked a stir in Jersey City, a city of 270,000 inhabitants with a very mixed population, where a small Hassidic community has fled in recent years, fleeing rising rents in Brooklyn. The mayor of Jersey City, Steven Fulop, had on Wednesday morning talked about anti-Semitism and said that the shooters had deliberately targeted the grocery store, but the authorities remained cautious at first, refraining from qualifying the attack.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio had also quickly denounced the attack as a sign of"A growing trend towards violent anti-Semitism", and strengthened the protection of Jewish community sites in the US financial capital.
