With Middle East in turmoil, U.S. cities beef up security ahead of anticipated protests
With renewed fighting in the Middle East, law enforcement agencies in cities around the country, including in California, beefed up security in anticipation of widespread demonstrations and possible violence Friday after a former Hamas chief called for protests across the “Arab and Islamic world” in support of Palestinians.
Though officials say no credible threats have been identified in the last few days, police departments from Los Angeles to New York have increased patrols out of an abundance of caution — largely focusing on houses of worship, schools, major transit hubs and public spaces — and advising the public to report anything unusual.
In a statement, the Los Angeles Police Department said it is aware of recent calls to action regarding the conflict in the Middle East.
“We have no information of any specific or credible threats to the city of Los Angeles, but we are continuing to assess the situation for any potential impact to our communities,” the statement said.
The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department issued an similar statement, adding: “We are conducting extra patrol checks and supplementing additional personnel from detective division and specialized units to have high visibility in strategic locations throughout the county. Additionally, we are reaching out to our local religious communities to reassure them during this tumultuous time.”
Sheriff Robert Luna urged members of the public “who attend demonstrations to remain calm and peaceful.”
Israel battled Hamas infiltrators for a third day and massed tens of thousands of troops near the Gaza Strip after the biggest attack in decades on Israeli soil.
The San Francisco Police Department said it was aware of no threats of violence Friday morning, but “officers are making passing calls by places of worship and other community centers that have expressed concerns.”
“We are on high alert for any suspicious or illegal activity,” the SFPD said in a statement.
The heightened patrols come amid the latest fighting between Israel and Hamas, which was sparked when members of the militant group stormed across the border from Gaza into southern Israel early Saturday morning, killing hundreds of civilians and soldiers and taking hostages in a brazen attack that plunged the two sides into their most heated conflict in years. Israel has launched an around-the-clock assault on parts of Gaza since then and sealed its borders to the land that is home to some 2.3 million inhabitants.
Israel’s military ordered more than 1 million people in northern Gaza to head to the territory’s southern region within 24 hours Friday ahead of an expected ground invasion.
Medics in the besieged enclave said they ran out of places to put remains pulled from the Israeli strikes or recovered from demolished buildings.
In the U.S., the surge in law enforcement readiness follows a call to action from Khaled Meshaal, the former chief of Hamas, who urged followers in a video sent to Reuters to launch protests across the Muslim world Friday, the news agency reported. Meshaal, who is based in Qatar and heads Hamas’ diaspora office, also called for neighboring countries to join in the war against Israel.
“[We must] head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday,” Meshaal said.
Concerns also spread to schools and colleges. At Stanford Law School, where classes were moved online after students expressed worries over their safety, a spokesperson said Friday the school was not facing any credible threats and that it decided to hold classes remotely because of “the short time frame for response” to students.
Los Angeles Unified School District principals sent out a uniform letter to their campuses Friday morning in English and Spanish assuring their communities that “schools are safe” and the district was working with agencies to monitor the situation.
An Orange County school district’s efforts to introduce lessons on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have ignited emotional discourse among Jewish and Arab American community groups.
Even before the declaration by Hamas, LAPD Chief Michel Moore announced his officers would conduct “extra patrol to [ensure] the safety of all.” The department has long kept a list of key potential targets and when a threat analysis says it is warranted deploys extra police cruisers into those areas in highly visible locations.
FBI Director Christopher A. Wray had said Thursday that the agency was investigating information spreading via the internet about a “Hamas call for action or demonstrations’’ on Friday. “We cannot and do not discount the possibility that Hamas or other foreign terrorist organizations could exploit the conflict to call on their supporters to conduct attacks here on our own soil,” Wray said.
Heightened anxieties about protests and calls to action have led to a surge of resources in cities around the country. Police officers fanned out across New York City, and helicopters patrolled over Manhattan.
In a security briefing Thursday evening, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said there were “no credible or specific threats against our city” but added that he directed the city’s Police Department to deploy to schools and houses of worship “to ensure New Yorkers are safe.”
An NYPD spokesperson said that all officers scheduled for duty Friday were to “report in uniform.”
No credible threats have been made in Boston, but police said in a statement they have increased the presence of uniformed officers around religious and cultural institutions.
Palestinian Americans with Gaza connections struggle with feelings of helplessness over violence after Hamas’ attack and Israel’s retaliation.
Chicago police said in a statement that they were “paying special attention to synagogues and mosques” as they monitor possible protests.
“The Chicago Police Department stands alongside all the innocent victims affected by this heartbreaking and horrific situation,” the statement said.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava posted on X on Thursday night that the county was preparing for possible activity Friday by adding more police officers at schools, synagogues, mosques, Jewish community centers and city infrastructure.
She added that the county was partly activating its emergency response protocol, which allows for better flow of communication during a crisis.
In Detroit, which is home to the country’s largest Arabic-speaking population, police said they were “coordinating with our local, state and federal partners to identify and assess any threats to the city of Detroit. At this time, there are no credible threats.”
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