'This Is Very Scary': Hundreds Unite At Beverly Temple After Jewish Threats, Gun Arrest

BEVERLY, MA — Temple B'nai Abraham Rabbi Alison Adler said her parents were at the horrific parade shooting in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park this past July 4 when six people were killed and dozens more injured in a shocking case of random violence and death.

She said that family experience hit her as a daughter, a mother and a rabbi that guns and hate were so pervasive in this country that they could be found anywhere and potentially when least expected.

• 'We Must Stand Together': Beverly Call For Unity After Jewish Threats

This past weekend, residents of Beverly — and the greater Jewish community of the North Shore — felt that sense of dread in their own backyard when they learned that a man had been charged with threats against a place of worship and dozens of gun crimes after police said he was accused of making online threats encouraging the rape of Jewish women and shooting synagogues. Police said a search of his Essex Street home included the discovery of a 9mm Glock "ghost gun" with no serial number, six boxes of ammunition, three large-capacity rifle magazines, 11 lower receivers for various rifles, a Nazi flag, more than $70,000 in cash and other various gun parts.

"People keep saying that it was a shock that something like this could happen close to home," Adler told Patch on Thursday. "It's not close to home. It is home. It was right down the street.

"Knowing that is incredibly unsettling."

On Tuesday, Rabbi Adler invited police, community and political leaders, and both Jewish and interfaith residents across the North Shore, to Temple B'nai Abraham for a show of unity, and support, and to get more information on how authorities are attempting to ensure safety.

She told Patch that about 250 people attended online and in person, including Beverly Police Chief John LeLacheur, District Attorney Paul Tucker, State Sen. Joan Lovely, Beverly Mayor Michael Cahill and law enforcement representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"It was a chance to give people a chance to ask questions but also to come together and feel the support that we really do have from leaders and police," Adler said. "I think people really did feel supported. The State Police had members all standing in the back. It was just a real show of presence."

She said the prevailing thoughts shared on Tuesday were that the overriding fears go beyond one person making isolated threats toward people of one religion, but are part of a trend of increasing political and religious violence across the country.

"This is very scary with what happened with this guy," she said, "but then realizing there are others out there who are like this. ... It's not just one person. And it's not just all about mental illness either because most people with mental illness do not do things like this."

"It's important for people to understand this is one person but it's also part of something bigger and to understand about hatred of Jews in our community and understand how it manifests itself. So much of it is about this notion that we have this power in society — which we don't have. It's important that people reach out to their Jewish friends and check in with them because people have been really affected by this."

She said she hopes Tuesday's meeting is not just one event in response to one man's threats but part of a bigger conversation on what people of all faiths and religions can do to stand together in the face of hate.

"It's not on just the Jewish community to figure out what to do next," she said. "It's about everybody doing that.

"How do we continue to build on how beautiful a place Beverly is?"

Anyone in need of support is asked to reach out to the Beverly Human Rights Committee.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)