Ulster County has created a Task Force for Preventing and Responding to Domestic Terrorism comprised of law enforcement, mental health professionals, school officials, faith leaders, and other community stakeholders.
The multidisciplinary task force held its first meeting in Kingston on Friday, October 14 with an eye on identifying, assessing and developing a plan to address threats of domestic terrorism.
In August, New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued Executive Order 18 in response to the mass shooting in a Buffalo supermarket in a predominately Black neighborhood on May 14, 2022. The shooter, a white teenager, who killed 10 Black people and injured three other people, was allegedly radicalized by racist conspiracy theories posted on the internet, and live-streamed the massacre on Twitch.
The motivations of a Saugerties man who threatened to shoot employees in a Walmart at 601 Frank Sottile Blvd. in the Town of Ulster on Monday, October 17 have yet to be made public, but when he was arrested on Friday, October 21, 22-year old Jacob J. Browne was charged with making a terroristic threat, a felony.
EO 18 tasks every county in the state with developing and maintaining a plan to identify and confront threats of domestic terrorism, including racially or ethnically-motivated extremism, and submit the plans to the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Office of Counterterrorism by the end of 2022. In addition to preparing counties to address domestic terrorism, the plans will also be used to aid in determining grant funding opportunities.
“Domestic extremism is a growing threat in our nation, and we must do everything in our power to protect ourselves and our children from domestic terrorism, including racially and ethnically-motivated extremism,” Acting Ulster County Executive Johanna Contreras said in a press release. “The Ulster County Task Force for Preventing and Responding to Domestic Terrorism will complete a comprehensive review of our ability to respond to threats and make recommendations to keep our residents safe.”
In the same press release, Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa touted the collective effort to combat locally what has become a nationwide issue.
Abe Uchitelle, Ulster County Legislature Deputy Majority Leader and chair of the Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee said white supremacy is one of the greatest domestic terror threats in the nation today.
Also on the rise is antisemitism, including from hip-hop artist Kanye West, who has recently faced backlash for espousing hate against Jews and for repeating conspiracy theories on social media and in interviews. West’s antisemitism emboldened a small group in Los Angeles, who on Sunday, October 23 performed Nazi salutes and unfurled banners over a freeway, including one that read “Kanye is right about the Jews.”
“One need look no further than FBI statistics, which reveal Jews were targeted in 55% of all religious bias crimes last year, to see the pressing need for this task force,” Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Ulster County David Drimer said in the county’s press release.
The Ulster County Task Force for Preventing and Responding to Domestic Terrorism includes members of the Ulster County’s Executive’s Office, the Ulster County Legislature; the departments of Emergency Services, Mental Health, Probation, Human Rights, Youth Bureau, County Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Office; and members of the Ulster County Jewish Federation, the NAACP, the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Center, 2nda Iglesia La Mision, the Ulster County Muslim Association, the Mid-Hudson Japanese Community Association, People USA, and representatives from the New York State Police, and local school districts and municipalities.
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