Jewish leader fears more antisemitic attacks on Australian soil following fatal shooting in Washington DC
A prominent Jewish leader has spoken out on the latest global antisemitic attack, warning things will only continue to get worse as he expressed fears of future hate crimes on Australian shores.
On Wednesday in the United States, what police believe was a lone gunman, opened fire and killed two people outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC.
The attack, which is being investigated by the FBI as to whether it had any ties to "potential terrorism" or was motivated by a hate crime, occurred shortly after 9pm.
When the shooter was in handcuffs after being taken into custody, he said "free, free Palestine".
US President Donald Trump labelled the crime "horrible" and said there was no place in the country for "hatred and radicalism".
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said while every antisemitic attack remained "deeply shocking", they were so frequent that they had become "utterly predictable".
"The person who did this was the product of a movement. And that's the Free Palestine Movement," he told Caleb Bond on Sky News' Sharri on Thursday.
"And that movement has for years, but particularly the last 18 months, been relentlessly inciting against the Jewish community, putting targets on the backs of community leaders and people who frequent communal institutions like the museum there in DC. And this is the inevitable consequence of that."
Mr Ryvchin said he believes the lack of consequences for antisemitic attacks means it will only "get worse".
"When there are no consequences exacted, when people feel they can get away with this stuff, they go further and further and farther," he said.
"The only thing that extremists understand is strict consequences. And until that's levied, until we see that, until we see a cost for being an anti-semite, this is going to get worse and worse."
He also expressed concern horrifying attacks like the Washington incident could take place in Australia.
"We've been warning about what is to come. The writing was on the wall for a long time. And there's no reason why something like this can't happen in this country because we have the same ideology, the same extremism, the same people who wish to do the Jewish community harm here.
"And it's going to take a hell of a lot of resolve from our security agencies and the police and the community and wider society to stamp this out and to protect Jewish Australians."
On Wednesday local time, police received multiple calls shortly after 9pm about a shooting in the area of Third Street NW and F Street NW in Washington DC.
Upon arrival, officers found an adult male and female unconscious and not breathing at the scene.
The pair ultimately succumbed to their injuries and rescue crews were unable to revive them.
Police said during a press conference they believe the crime was committed by a single suspect, 30-year-old Chicago man Elias Rodriguez, and he is now in custody.
Police chief Pamela A Smith said the suspect "implied" he committed the crime.
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Herald Sun
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ABC News
2 hours ago
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BTN Episode 16, 2025
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And in the women's, after a rocky start, Coco Gauff turned it around to defeat Aryna Sabalenka making her the first American to take home the title since Serena Williams a decade ago. Phwoah. Now let's keep that win streak going with our Australian Olympic champion, Jess Fox, who's snagged her 34th gold in the C1 at the Women's Canoe World Cup leg in Spain. And let's finish with a plunge into a different kind of win with the 11th annual AFL Big Freeze. Every year, well-known Aussies dressed in costume of course, take to the slide and the icy cold waters at the bottom all to raise awareness for the fight against motor neurone disease. This year's dress code: "Iconic Australians". Gee, you get cold just watching it, don't you? 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But that's not what makes this old rock interesting. If you look closely, there are dinosaur footprints on it a lot of them. Dr Romilio, Palaeontologist: Hi, my name is Dr Anthony Romilio. I'm a palaeontologist from the University of Queensland. And when he finds out about it Dr Romilio drove 6 hours to get a look. Dr Romilio: The rock itself is around 200 million years old, so in the lower part of the Jurassic. He used a silicon mould to make a copy of the fossil and studied it in his lab. That's where he discovered the slab had 66 footprints on it he says they came from an Anomoepus scambus dinosaur. Dr Romilio: Overseas, they've kind of done the hard work for us where they've done the Cinderella effect where they've matched the Dinosaur foot bones to this particular shape of footprint and so that's why we know these were made by a bipedal, a two legged, small dinosaur known as an Ornithischian. Dr Romilio reckons these guys were moving at around six kilometres per hour and used the slab like a highway. Dr Romilio: Most of them are heading this direction or that direction which kind of indicates to us that they were either crossing a river this way or that way or maybe they were going up and down a river. This discovery is a pretty big deal because it's rare to find Dinosaur fossils from the early Jurassic period and it's not only palaeontologists who are excited about uncovering this part of our dino history. The school is working with Dr Romilio to make a copy of the fossil so they can share this find with even more people. STUDENT: It's so exciting that our school has been recognised for such a such an old fossil and now it's just I want to know more about what dinosaurs were here and how many more. STUDENT: There's no way that they just disappeared and there's no other continuation of where their footprints are. So, I think that if you were to dig deep enough or go looking hard enough, you'd definitely find some. STUDENT: We should all start a big search for more fossils because I'm just quite excited that this could bring the community together. Closer Well, that's all we have for you, but we'll be back next week with more. In the meantime, you can catch Newsbreak every weeknight right here in the studio and there's plenty to see and do on our website. Have an awesome week and I'll see you next time. Bye.
Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Donald Trump wants to ‘engage' with Xi Jinping to bring the ‘temperature down'
Historian and former intelligence analyst Robert Suettinger says US President Donald Trump wants to 'engage' with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Mr Suettinger told Sky News host Sharri Markson that there have been 'extreme' pressures building up between China and the US. Donald Trump is aiming to 'bring the temperature down' within the two nations' relationship, he said.
