Christians stand in solidarity with the Jewish community after the Colleyville, Texas hostage situation at the Congregation Beth Israel on Saturday Jan 15 where a Rabbi and other congregants were held hostage for many hours until federal, state and local law enforcement resolved the situation with none of the hostages being physically injured. The alleged gunman, who has been depicted by family members as having mental illness, was in the U.S. on a tourist visa issued two weeks ago. The alleged gunman said he was intent upon bringing attention to a Pakistani nuero-scientist who has been incarcerated for killing U.S. military and officials in Afghanistan. CEN’s President Mary Marr said: “Thankfully, CEN’s twenty year faith based Jewish security partner, the Secure Community Network (SCN), was on the ground within minutes bringing calm and coordination within the hostage situation.”
CEN’s National Safety Security Officer, Dan Graeber said: “CEN applauds the diligent work of the Secure Community Network. Just as SCN’s Security training helps prepare the Jewish community months earlier to save lives, CEN’s ReadyChurch/Safety and Security training helps Christians to respond to incidents like this one” Watch CPPS video on Hostage Survival
Despite the statistical rise in Anti-Semitism and the gunman’s own rhetoric against Jews during the attack, the FBI faced backlash for initially saying this incident was not a target against the Jewish people. Secure Community Network Director, Michael Masters, told CEN Mary Marr today: “We were, and remain, profoundly grateful for the partnership that exists between SCN and the FBI, and their efforts on behalf of the Jewish community – which were never more clear than through their patience, diligence, and commitment in resolving the situation in Colleyville, TX without loss of innocent life. There are four members of our community who are alive today thanks, in part, to the work of law enforcement, to include the Colleyville, TX police department, Texas DPS, and FBI.”
The broader faith community is questioning if this is similar to the Fort Hood terrorist incident where authorities depicted this as “workplace violence” before a thorough investigation in 2009, or the Sutherland Springs, Texas Church attack saying it was not a terrorist incident prior to any full investigation. The FBI issued a statement via The Washington Post today which states: “This is a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted, and is being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force,” the FBI said in a statement emailed to The Washington Post early Monday. “We never lose sight of the threat extremists pose to the Jewish community and to other religious, racial, and ethnic groups.”
For twenty years CEN has served on the U.S. DHS Faith-Based Advisory Board. We have repeatedly expressed concern that government agencies and law enforcement officials, charged with being impartial and following Constitutionally protected rights, avoid ‘politically weaponizing’ security incidents. Thankfully, in this case, officials are walking back the obviously incredulous statements regarding the Colleyville Texas incident and are pursuing an investigation “full on” which has already resulted in two teens being arrested in the U.K. on Sunday. This now becomes an international as well as domestic terrorism incident.
CEN’s Mary Marr, who helped to write the U.S. DHS Homeland Security Advisory Committees “Preventing Targeted Violence Against Faith Communities” report to Congress in 2019, said: “Now we must turn our attention back to the glaring administrative oversight of not implementing the 2019 report, which was Congressionally approved and fully funded, which has resulted in this tragedy, once again, against all communities of faith!”
There are several take-aways from this event for the greater Christian community.
Situational Awareness is no longer an optional training, it is a vital life skill in today’s society.
Securing and making your congregation safer is paramount. It is about learning to watch for certain behaviors, being aware, having pre-written plans, policies, and procedures for various disruptions of:
Your worship service
Your children’s care
Your outreach activities
It is about having GOOD, established relationships with local Law Enforcement, Fire Station, and Medical Emergency Services (ambulance and hospital)
Review a thorough vulnerability checklist including, but not limited to the one from your insurance company and start working on the less secure areas of your building and procedures.
Have your lay and staff leaders LEARN and practice de-escalation techniques.
Consider very seriously setting up a threat assessment team for your congregation. Get appropriate training for this team. This team is dealing with life altering or possibly life threatening situations. They must be trained and they need to work through table-top exercises TOGETHER!
Have proper secure procedures in place for your finances inside the building and outside the building.
Have a recovery procedure setup in case anything happens to your normal convention of meeting. Getting back to “normal” meetings is crucial to recovery. This may include:
Counseling for congregants involved in any incident
Offsite backup of all data kept at the facility
Alternate meeting sites located and identified
Listing of temporary or permanent successors of key stakeholders
Let’s Pray!
“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied, “You have done all this evil’ yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.” I Samuel 12:20
For those who have been affected by the Colleyville TX Attack including the alleged gunman’s family and those whom he has affiliated with.
For All to be more watchful and prepared to respond quickly when threatened armed with the Gospel of Hope and Peace eternally.
For First responders who put their lives on the line each day to protect our rights and religious freedoms.
No comments:
Post a Comment