A man was arrested after spraying an unknown substance on 2 people and chanting antisemitic slogans outside a synagogue in Washington DC, NBC 4 Washington. The incident occurred in front of the Kesher Israel Congregation at about 9:30 Sunday morning. The suspect, Brent Wood, 33, allegedly sprayed a foul-smelling substance at two people and yelled "gas the Jews!" No one was injured. It is unclear from local reports whether the victims were members of the synagogue or even Jewish. Wood was arrested and faces charges of simple assault and resisting arrest. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime. Related articles: School board members accused of antisemitism during meeting 'Two ways to fight antisemitism - fight or flight' Growth in antisemitism in US fueled by anti-Zionism Man who stabbed Jewish barber reaches plea deal The incident comes as hundreds of synagogues and Jewish institutions across the United States received bomb threats by email over the weekend, in a substantial acceleration of a months-long spree of hoax threats. The Secure Community Network, which coordinates security for Jewish institutions nationwide, said early Sunday that it had tracked 199 threats over the past 24 hours, with nearly 100 in California and 62 in Arizona. Synagogues in at least 17 states plus Washington, D.C., were affected, according to local media reports. The Anti-Defamation League has reported an increase of over 330% in the number of antisemitic incidents in the US in the weeks since the Hamas massacre of over 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7. "Gas the Jews," a reference to the gas chambers used during the Nazi Holocaust, was chanted at an anti-Israel rally celebrating the Hamas massacre in Sydney Australia just a few days after the massacre, and has come to symbolize the antisemitism inherent in anti-Israel protests which have taken place around the world in the aftermath of the massacre.
