Jersey City shooters had a bomb in their van, intended to kill a lot more people

US Attorney Craig Carpentino revealed today that the couple who attacked a Jewish Market in Jersey City had cased the location several times and also had a substantial bomb in their van which could have injured people hundreds of yards away if it had been triggered.

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Carpenito said that authorities do not believe Anderson and Graham had any co-conspirators, but the investigation continues. Carpenito also said there is no evidence suggesting Anderson and Graham attacked the yeshiva that is two doors down from the market. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop has said he believes evidence suggests the yeshiva was a planned target.

Anderson and Graham planned the attack for months and cased the market days before, authorities said today. In addition to the bomb that was found in the truck the two used to drive to the market, there was enough material to make a second bomb, they said.

The bomb could have injured or killed people as far as five football fields away, according to authorities.

Authorities aren’t saying what the couple’s goal was for the bomb but did note that they had searched for information on a Jewish community center in Bayonne. Earlier reports suggested the shooters were connected to the Black Hebrew Israelites. There is also some additional information about the note they left in the van.

At the scene, a note found on Anderson contained a reference to a 1990s documentary, “The FBI’s War on Black America,” which explored the FBI’s targeting of individuals involved in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, Carpenito said. He added that a timestamp written on the note corresponded to a segment in the documentary where an interviewee advocates killing “fascist pig cops.”

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The interviewee that apparently inspired the attack was with Black Panther leader Fred Hampton. The documentary is available for streaming on Amazon. Here’s how it’s described on the site:

The FBI’s War on Black America looks at a dark period in our country’s history, an exploration of the lives and deaths of people targeted by the US government’s COINTELPRO, an FBI program aimed against organized efforts by African-Americans to gain rights guaranteed by our constitution. This underground classic is as relevant today as the day it was originally released.

The first person the shooters killed that day was Det. Joseph Seals. Authorities suggested today that Seals intervention may have thrown off a bigger plot that could have killed even more people. The shooters have also been connected to a shooting that happened a week earlier when a Jewish man had his rear window shot out as he was driving.

The number of “bias incidents” that took place in New Jersey was up 65 percent last year compared to 2018 according to figures released today. Here’s a local news report on the Jersey City attackers and the new information released today:

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Beege Welborn 5:00 PM | December 24, 2024
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