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A new program spearheaded by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita seeks to train up the state’s law enforcement officials to “combat antisemitism” and implement “zero-tolerance” policies that ensure Jewish Hoosiers are protected.
Staff at the attorney general’s office said the training — set for Sept. 20 — is scheduled early in the new academic year as law enforcement, universities and students “prepare for continuation of the protests” and “antisemitic acts we witnessed during the spring semester.”
“Antisemitism is on the rise across America. We are seeing it with riots at college campuses, protests in our streets, and threats against our Jewish friends and neighbors,” an office spokesperson told the Indiana Capital Chronicle in a statement. “Because of this, our office is leading the effort to combat this disturbing behavior by providing important legal education and law enforcement training.”
The training comes on the heels of a letter sent by Rokita to Hoosier law enforcement in August about the “dramatic rise in antisemitic activity across the United States and in Indiana” since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by terrorist organization Hamas.
The Republican attorney general called on local prosecutors and police to crack down on antisemitic acts, and refer to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism “as a formal guide to determine when a crime motivated by antisemitism occurs.” Rokita said, too, he wants an increased law enforcement presence at Jewish institutions.
“We cannot let this behavior escalate and it must be put down,” Rokita said in the letter. “There must be a zero-tolerance policy for antisemitism here in Indiana. … Without your enduring leadership and strength, Hamas and others bring their antisemitism into our backyards to prey on innocent Jewish Hoosiers.”
Rokita also said he had personally viewed about 45 minutes of terrorist body camera footage, security camera evidence and police body cam footage from Oct. 7 of “atrocities equal to or less humane than the procedures employed during the Holocaust.”
He included graphic details and said Hamas bragged about their actions and “some “Americans”—including our state university students—celebrated it. This celebration occurred before Israel even responded.”
Earlier this year, Rokita additionally warned Hoosier colleges and universities that “hateful antisemitic acts against Jewish students will not be tolerated.”
He emphasized that campuses “are duty-bound” to combat “all forms of antisemitism on their campuses.” Not doing so risks their federal funding, he added, saying that Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin. That includes perceived ancestry or ethnicity.
Antisemitism training for Hoosier attorneys, community members
Although the attorney general’s office has previously hosted continuing legal education and law enforcement courses (also known as “CLE” of “LE” training), this is the first training that focuses specifically on combating antisemitism, according to an office spokesperson.
The Indianapolis training is open to all “law enforcement, attorneys and community members … to ensure that all those who uphold the laws of the State of Indiana are prepared in the fight against antisemitism,” Rokita said.
In addition to the attorney general, speakers at the training include Lorenzo Vidino, director of the Program on Extremism at The George Washington University; Dr. Allon Friedman, president of The Jewish American Affairs Committee of Indiana; and James Barta, Indiana’s solicitor general.
Vidino will speak on “the recent trends in the various extremist ideologies present in America,” and how antisemitism “is often the glue that ties them together, both ideologically and at times also operationally,” according to Rokita’s office. A spokesperson referenced “right-wing, Islamist, Black supremacist, and Antifa” as likely topics of conversation.
Friedman, who is also a professor of medicine at Indiana University, will focus on “what characterizes the major sources of Jew hatred; understanding the links between global and local Antisemitism; identifying the greatest Antisemitic threats in Indiana; and reviewing examples of Jew hatred,” according to the attorney general’s office.
Barta will further hone in on the First Amendment’s application. The session seeks to answer questions surrounding recent protests, including those on Indiana University’s campus this spring.
His session description posed several of those questions already: “As universities seek to curb antisemitism, protesters invoke the First Amendment. Is this claim legitimate? Does the First Amendment protect protesters chanting antisemitic slogans? Does it prevent university administrators from removing encampments?”
“The First Amendment protects the right to speak. A bedrock principle is that the government, public universities included, cannot prohibit speech simply because someone expresses an idea that is offensive or disagreeable,” according to training materials. “But there are limits to First Amendment freedoms. There is no right, for example, to make actual threats against Jewish students, incite violence towards them, or engage in non-expressive conduct harmful to others. Nor is there a right to stifle the speech of others by attempting to wield a ‘heckler’s veto.’ Universities have the ability to impose reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions as well, such as prohibitions on protests during class or overnight camping.”
Rokita lays out specific guidance in new letter
Rokita said in his August letter that while “many of us have little experience with antisemitism … (we) are very aware of its recent resurgence.”
He recommended that local agencies adopt a zero-tolerance policy for antisemitism, though it’s not clear what exactly the attorney general thinks should be included.
Rokita pointed to a July visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu July 2024 to address the U.S. Congress, during which protestors “tore down and burned an American flag, replaced it with a Palestinian flag in Washington D.C.’s Union Station, and vandalized monuments in the area.”
“Some of these protestors became violent and attempted to cross a U.S. Capitol Police line, but were met with retaliatory force by law enforcement and subdued with pepper spray. This behavior can occur here, in Indiana, and has already, albeit in less violent form … so far,” Rokita continued, referring to alleged “vile antisemitic behavior” during spring protests at Indiana University.
“There, protestors formed encampments, disobeyed university official’s orders, clashed with law enforcement, and expressed foul antisemitism towards Jewish students,” Rokita said. “As we have seen time and time again, antisemitism serves as an underlying precursor to violent extremism. Left unchecked, antisemitic acts turn criminal.”
The attorney general additionally implored Hoosier law enforcement to use the IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism “throughout the administration of justice.”
Earlier this year, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb rejected a compromise attempt by lawmakers to use part of the outside group’s definition of antisemitism in state law. Critics targeted the included “contemporary examples” of antisemitism, saying they were overly broad and limited free speech.
The examples include “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” and “holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the State of Israel.”
Holcomb instead issued a signed proclamation condemning “all forms of antisemitism” that includes the full IHRA definition and examples — which the Indiana Jewish Community Relations Council thanked him for doing.
Rokita said the definition “has been accepted internationally by numerous countries and bodies” and should be used as an “aid” to identify “antisemitic behavior.”
And while he said the First Amendment “broadly protects speech,” Rokita made clear that “speech followed by unlawful conduct is not protected.”
“The First Amendment does not shield individuals who commit crimes from criminal prosecution,” Rokita said in the letter. “For example, protesting the Israel-Hamas war is protected, but blocking a major road to do so, vandalizing property, or hurling objects at individual persons or crowds, in violation of the law, is not. Moreover, the First Amendment does not protect speech directed toward inciting or producing imminent lawless action, and speech likely to produce such action.”
Rokita advised, too, that law enforcement continue to patrol Jewish institutions, including synagogues and schools, across Indiana.
“This way, law enforcement can make their presence physically known in order to deter those who wish to do harm. For their part, Jewish schools and places of worship should work to develop safety plans in conjunction with local law enforcement so that Jewish students and worshippers can freely exercise their religious beliefs,” Rokita said. “By bringing local law enforcement and Jewish community leaders together, we are not only strengthening our civic ties, but we are also letting every Jewish Hoosier know that Indiana has their back.”
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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