CBS Correspondent Says ‘Jewish Institutions’ Have Been ‘Preparing’ for Attacks: ‘Not Surprising’

Screenshot via CNN

CBS News correspondent Jonah Kaplan called Thursday’s attack on Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, MI “shocking but not surprising” as Jewish institutions across the country “have been preparing” for violent events.

Miraculously, no one was injured in the attack after a suspect rammed through the synagogue’s doors and engaged in gunfire with security. The synagogue also houses a school and early childhood center.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard praised Temple Israel’s fast-acting security. Bouchard also confirmed “something ignited” in the suspect’s vehicle, and the assailant was found dead inside.

Reporting on the incident, Kaplan stated that the Jewish community has been bracing for anti-Semitic attacks:

And, look, for members of the Jewish community across the country, this is going to be shocking but not surprising,” he said. “And synagogues, day schools, any kind of Jewish institution, they’ve been preparing, sadly, for something like this, which is why if this alleged gunman or whoever assailant was to take a car and ran it in to a synagogue, frequently you’ll see some barriers in front of synagogues, you’ll see heavily fortified doors, and many preschools will have armed guards with them. So, again, a shocking scenes to see. But they’re not going to be surprising to many members of the Jewish community. Of course, the immediacy of this is even if you have a conflict five or 6,000 miles away, this is when you see a war felt very much at home.

In response to the incident, police in major cities across the U.S., including Washington, D.C. and New York, are reportedly ramping up their presence at Jewish institutions.

Anti-Semitism has skyrocketed since 2023, with FBI data revealing the Jewish community was the target of nearly 70 percent of religious-based hate crimes in 2024 alone. The FBI has not yet released the final, nationwide crime data for the full year of 2025.

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