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Molotov Cocktail

Remember the Hate Crime that Wasn't a Hate Crime?

In a great example of how the news gets spun, that is, interpreted in a way that suits a political objective, read the ProJo article below, but know that what really happened was a personal beef between individuals (someone pissed someone else off and they retaliated against them with a harsh warning) that got blown out of proportion, and you know what, the police don't have a clue as to who did what, but I'd bet all my money that the people involved know exactley what it was all about and who did what, but they ain't talking to the police.

Hate crime, not even!

Reward announced in attack

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, March 18, 2008

By Gregory Smith

Journal Staff Writer

Herbert B. Stern, right, president of the Rhode Island Jewish Federation, announced the reward yesterday. Providence Deputy Police Chief Paul J. Kennedy is at left.

The Providence Journal / Bob Thayer
PROVIDENCE — Three Jewish organizations, in cooperation with the Police Department, yesterday announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for the attempted firebombing of an apartment where an Israeli activist lived.

Herbert B. Stern, president of the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island, denounced the attack as “a despicable act of violence” in a news conference at the Public Safety Complex. Besides the Jewish Federation, the sponsors of the reward are the Anti-Defamation League and Brown University/Rhode Island School of Design Hillel House.

Although the incident has inflamed the Jewish community, according to Deputy Police Chief Paul J. Kennedy, he said the police have nothing to indicate that “this was a terrorism-related incident or a hate crime” directed at a Jew.

In recognition of the fact that it has put the Jewish community on edge, Kennedy said, uniformed and plainclothes police have set up a special watch on Jewish institutions such as synagogues as a precaution.

A Molotov cocktail was thrown into the second-floor apartment of Josef Knafo, 25, a citizen of Israel, on Camp St., at 1:15 a.m., Saturday, according to the police, but it failed to ignite. A second Molotov cocktail struck the front of the triple-decker house, left a scorch mark and fell, flaming harmlessly, on a sidewalk. Nobody was injured.

Knafo, who lived in the apartment with two roommates, is a representative of the Jewish Agency for Israel, an organization that sends young people around the world to conduct education, religious and cultural programs. He is a graduate fellow at Brown University and an employee of Brown University/RISD Hillel House, a Jewish religious center on Brown’s East Side campus, according to the police.

While Jewish organizations alerted their constituencies on the premise that Knafo was the target of an anti-Semitic attack, the police advised rabbis and other Jewish community leaders to tell their followers to be aware but not to be alarmed.

Brown officials said they would make arrangements to have Knafo live elsewhere for the time being. But the police said the four other people living in the three apartments in the triple-decker, including his two roommates, will stay put.

The police disclosed virtually nothing about the investigation except to say that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is analyzing the two firebombs, including the nature of the fuel, and that Maj. Monty J. Monteiro, commander of the police Homeland Security Division, is leading the investigation.

The investigation is a combined effort that, according to Mayor David N. Cicilline, includes the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s office and the city/state/federal Joint Terrorism Task Force, in addition to the ATF.

“We will give this top priority” at the Police Department, Kennedy vowed.

Copies of a personal-safety advice sheet published by the U.S. Attorney’s Anti-terrorism Advisory Council were distributed after the news conference, which was attended by rabbis and other Jewish community leaders as well as police officers and members of the news media. The crowd of 45 people in attendance in the auditorium at the complex was unusually large for a news conference.

Maj. Paul C. Fitzgerald, commander of the police uniformed division, recommended that Jewish leaders tell their followers to maintain a heightened awareness of their surroundings but not to alter their lifestyles.

“You don’t want to succumb to this” and live in fear of a perceived threat, he said.

But he also offered advice for action.

“If it doesn’t feel right. If it doesn’t look right. If the hair on the back of your neck stands up as a result of something you see, based on what’s transpired over the last 72 hours, then you need to call the police,” Fitzgerald said.

“Don’t take any actions on your own,” the major advised.

The police urged that anyone with information about the incident to call the police emergency telephone line at (401) 272-1111 or the police Investigative Division at (401) 243-6406 or send a text message to Citizen Observer, the police Internet-based alert system. Anonymous messages are accepted, but Kennedy pointed out that a tipster who does not identify himself would not be able to collect the reward.

To send information to Citizen Observer, text TIP651 followed by your tip to CRIMES (274637).

If someone claims the reward, the police will be involved in the decision whether to pay it, Kennedy said.

gsmith@projo.com

Posted at May 6, 2008 08:36 AM