When a Sayreville man allegedly posted a manifesto on social media blaming Jews for Islamaphobia in the U.S., authorities say, he took inspiration from a white supremacist mass shooter who made threats toward a synagogue and gay people.
The accusations against Omar Alkattoul, who faces federal charges, had many of the hallmarks of what authorities describe as the “transforming threat environment” in the United States: A local man, egged on by hateful rhetoric on social media, acting out personal grievances by instilling panic and fear.
Counterterrorism officials charged with keeping watch over New Jersey say, such homegrown violent extremists, as well as violent white supremacists, present the greatest threat to the Garden State, according to their latest annual report.
The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness’ 2023 threat assessment does not warn of any specific pending hazard but focuses on the risks posed by hatred and political violence, cybercrime, espionage and disinformation — much of which is manifesting online and in pockets of social media.
“Extremists will use mainstream and alternative social media platforms to coordinate attacks and radicalize sympathizers, who in turn will coerce populations and create unrest among the general public,” Laurie R. Doran, the office’s director and a 30-year veteran of the CIA, wrote in a letter introducing the report.
“Another area of concern is that state and non-state entities are seeking to sow discord in the United States by circulating disinformation and misinformation in order to alter public perception, influence global affairs, and spread falsehoods.”
The assessment notes an overall decline in terror-related activity in New Jersey in recent years, but said homegrown extremists remain a high-level threat “due to their commitment to planning targeted violence against perceived opponents and organizing tactical training operations while using social media to coordinate attacks and share personal grievances to justify violence.”
In Alkattoul’s case, a federal judge in November ordered him held without bail pending trial, citing the “seriousness of the danger to the community” he posed had he acted on his online postings, court records show.
His public defender could not immediately be reached for comment.
Prosecutors allege Alkattoul was inspired in part by social media posts from the Charleston, S.C. church shooter, a white supremacist, writing that “a lot of Muslims in the West should learn from him.” A public defender said Alkattoul “didn’t have the means or the material to even carry out the alleged threat in this case,” according to a court transcript.
Violent pro-white groups are the only other category listed as a “high-level” threat in the report.
An array of other broad groups — anarchist, anti-government, militia, Black supremacist, sovereign citizen — are listed as “moderate” threats alongside a new category this year. Abortion extremists is a label that covers both pro- and anti-abortion groups that seek to threaten or harm their ideological opponents. The report notes a rise in reports of violence and threats against abortion clinics and religious anti-abortion groups in the months following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Homeland security officials are also focused on cybersecurity issues, Doran said.
Hacking and ransomware — the use of malicious software to hold a computer or whole network hostage — “will continue to be a costly and debilitating cyber threat, along with persistent targeting of user account credentials, and concerns related to supply chain vulnerabilities that cyber threat actors can exploit,” the director wrote in her letter.
The 44-page document can be found on the office’s website, njohsp.gov.
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