Suspect In North Jersey Synagogue Attacks Plotted Firebombing Additional Congregations

One of two suspects in a rash of attacks on synagogues around Northern New Jersey was planning another attack, against the Paramus Jewish Community Center. Having attended that congregation during the high Holy Days (Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana) a few years back this hits home even more than most:

Synagogue firebombing suspect Anthony Graziano was planning another attack — on the Jewish Community Center of Paramus — and was stockpiling beer bottles and gasoline in woods nears the center, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said Friday.

The discovery prompted new charges of attempted aggravated arson, bias intimidation, possession of a destructive device, he said. A court appearance on those charges is scheduled for Tuesday morning at Superior Court in Hackensack.

Molinelli said investigators had seized Graziano’s two computers, which showed that the suspect had searched for information about how to make Molotov cocktails and how to burn down buildings. He added that Graziano had tried to delete the information in a way that made it difficult to retrieve, but that investigators had succeeded in reconstructing it.

Graziano, 19, was arrested Monday night and charged with trying to start a fire with gasoline at the Congregation K’hal Adath Jeshurun in Paramus on Jan. 3. The fire went out quickly, and no one was injured, authorities said.

Authorities also accused him of throwing Molotov cocktails into the residential quarters of the Congregation Beth El synagogue in Rutherford on Jan. 11. Rabbi Nosson Schuman, who was sleeping at the time, said he escaped with his wife and five children.

Meanwhile, the list of congregations that received an anti Semitic pamphlet in the mail has grown to include the Fair Lawn Jewish Center, which isn't too far from our home.