Washington, DC…In the last weeks, our nation has seen a series of anti-Semitic attacks, targeting and terrorizing American Jews. We have seen a brick thrown through window of a Jewish-owned business in Manhattan, a swastika carved into the door of a synagogue in Salt Lake City, families threatened outside a restaurant in Los Angeles, and museums in Florida and Alaska, dedicated to celebrating Jewish life and culture and remembering the Holocaust, vandalized with anti-Jewish messages.

These attacks are despicable, unconscionable, un-American, and they must stop.

I will not allow our fellow Americans to be intimidated or attacked because of who they are or the faith they practice.

We cannot allow the toxic combination of hatred, dangerous lies, and conspiracy theories to put our fellow Americans at risk.

As Attorney General Garland announced yesterday, the Department of Justice will be deploying all of the tools at its disposal to combat hate crimes.

In recent days, we have seen that no community is immune. We must all stand together to silence these terrible and terrifying echoes of the worst chapters in world history, and pledge to give hate no safe harbor.

May is Jewish American Heritage Month, when we honor Jewish Americans who have inextricably woven their experience and their accomplishments into the fabric of our national identity; overcoming the pain of history, and helping lead our struggle for a more fair, just, and tolerant society.

Let us all take up that work and create a nation that stands for, and stands up for, the dignity and safety of all of our people.

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