Latest news with #antisemiticviolence
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Human rights ‘worsened' in UK over the past year, says US
A Trump administration report has accused the UK of backsliding on human rights over the past year, citing increased antisemitic violence and growing restrictions on free speech. The annual US State Department assessment, which analyses human rights conditions worldwide, flagged what it described as 'serious restrictions' on freedom of expression in the UK. 'The government sometimes took credible steps to identify and punish officials who committed human rights abuses, but prosecution and punishment for such abuses was inconsistent,' the report read. The report specifically said laws limiting speech around abortion clinics, pointing to 'safe access zones' curbed expression, including silent protests and prayer. 'These restrictions on freedom of speech could include prohibitions on efforts to influence others when inside a restricted area, even through prayer or silent protests,' the report read. In the wake of the 2024 Southport attack, the report said government officials 'repeatedly intervened to chill speech'. Criticism over the handling of free speech was also directed at the governments of Germany and France. A UK government spokesperson told the BBC: 'Free speech is vital for democracy around the world, including here in the UK and we are proud to uphold freedoms whilst keeping our citizens safe.' Sentiments echoed those previously made by vice president JD Vance. In February, Mr Vance criticised the UK over a legal case in which a former serviceman who silently prayed outside an abortion clinic was convicted of breaching the safe zone around the centre. In a wider attack on what he suggested is a shift away from democratic values across Europe, Mr Vance claimed the 'basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular' are under threat. He referred to the conviction of Adam Smith-Connor, 51, who had denied doing so but was found guilty last year of failing to comply with a public space protection order at the centre in Bournemouth in November 2022. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Mr Vance said that the US' 'very dear friends the United Kingdom' appeared to have seen a 'backslide in conscience rights'. 'A little over two years ago, the British government charged Adam Smith-Connor, a 51-year-old physiotherapist and an Army veteran, with the heinous crime of standing 50 metres from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes, not obstructing anyone, not interacting with anyone, just silently praying on his own,' he said. The report also said the Government 'effectively' enforced laws around freedom of association and the rights of workers. The UK Government has been contacted for comment.
Fox News
07-08-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump, GOP fight antisemitic violence amid latest FBI probe — in sharp contrast to Biden's silence
President Donald Trump has taken a much harsher approach to address the rise of antisemitic violence in the U.S. in comparison to his predecessor, from launching task forces to penalizing academic institutions who have become embroiled in anti-Israel protests. For example, Trump's Justice Department cracked down on Palestinian militant group Hamas, establishing a new task force in March aimed at providing justice to the victims of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the group, known as Joint Task Force October 7, would focus on identifying, charging and prosecuting those who conducted the 2023 attacks, which took the lives of roughly 1,200 people — including 47 U.S. citizens. Hamas also took more than 250 people hostage that day, including eight U.S. citizens. Meanwhile, the Biden administration recently came under fire in a House Judiciary Committee memo in July that claims his administration directed taxpayer funding to protests in Israel against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "The Committee's oversight has revealed that the Biden–Harris Administration provided grant funds to groups that contributed directly and indirectly to the judicial reform protests that sought to undermine the Israeli government," the committee wrote in the memo. Meanwhile, lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee are cautioning that antisemitic attacks are becoming "alarmingly more frequent" in the U.S. as the FBI launches an investigation into antisemitic graffiti outside the home of a former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier in Clayton, Missouri. The Clayton, Missouri, Police Department said Tuesday in a statement that it had launched an investigation after officers found "Death to the IDF" emblazoned on the pavement next to three vehicles that had been set on fire. The police department said it believed the fire had been "intentionally set," and that the victim had been "specifically targeted." The IDF is the national military for Israel, which has been embroiled in a conflict with Gaza after Hamas launched an attack against Israel. Hamas has served as the governing body of Gaza. It's unclear whether the IDF soldier involved in the Missouri incident is Jewish. The attack follows several other antisemitic acts of violence in 2025, including ones in Boulder, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., this spring. "No American should live in fear because of their political or religious beliefs," Rep. August Pfluger, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee's counterterrorism and intelligence subcommittee, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Yet, this week, a Jewish American — with a record of courageous service supporting one of our nation's closest allies — had their private property set on fire by extremists seeking to intimidate them and their family. Heightened antisemitic and anti-Israel acts of violence on U.S. soil are becoming alarmingly more frequent." "These are not isolated incidents, but part of a broader and deeply troubling surge in hatred fueled by propaganda online and on college campuses," Pfluger said. Leo Terrell, head of the Justice Department's Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, said in a Tuesday X post that the attack occurred outside the home of a U.S. citizen who served in the IDF. Terrell also said the FBI was immediately contacted and is working in tandem with local authorities to investigate the matter. Local authorities said they are probing the attack as a hate crime. The FBI and the White House did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. Pfluger has repeatedly cautioned about the rise of antisemitic violence, and the House Homeland Security Committee met with stakeholders and law enforcement to address the matter during a closed-door congressional roundtable on July 22. Additionally, Pfluger held a hearing in June on the matter following a terrorist attack in Colorado targeting a grassroots group advocating for the release of Israeli hostages, and a May shooting that killed two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington. On Wednesday, the Justice Department unsealed an indictment against Elias Rodriguez, 31, the suspect involved in the shooting in Washington, revealing federal hate crime and murder charges in connection with the shooting. The indictment is on top of other charges brought against Rodriguez in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, including charges of the murder of a foreign official, causing death through the use of a firearm and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The indictment includes two federal counts of hate crime resulting in death, and two local counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. Meanwhile, antisemitic violence reached a new high in 2024, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The group recorded 9,354 antisemitic instances of harassment, assault and vandalism in the U.S. in 2024 — a 5% increase from the 8,873 incidents recorded in 2023 and a 344% increase in the past five years. The number of incidents is the highest the group has recorded since 1979, when the group first started tracking these cases. Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday that he is "deeply concerned" about the increase in antisemitic violence and terrorism — including this most recent attack. "There is no place in America for this vile hatred and intimidation, but it has surged in the years following the devastating, cowardly, and unprovoked October 7 attacks by Hamas," Garbarino said.
