Rabbi Held Hostage At Colleyville Synagogue Urges Congress To Increase Funding For Improved Security At Houses Of Worship
WASHINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - Nearly one month after being held hostage at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville with three congregants, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker urged members of Congress to increase funding for a federal program that helps houses of worship improve security.
The Rabbi testified during a joint hearing by the House Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery and Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism.
He told members, "I'm grateful to be here. To be honest, I'm grateful to be anywhere."
The Rabbi credited his congregation, Tarrant County's Jewish Federation, and FEMA's Nonprofit Security Grant Program for helping their synagogue boost security measures.
That includes upgrading their camera system, which he said helped the FBI during the hostage situation January 15.
He also said he and his congregation had received multiple training seminars from Jewish organizations and federal and local law enforcement on how to prepare for such incidents.
That helped him and his three congregants stay calm and escape unharmed.
Cytron-Walker said many other houses of worship - particularly smaller congregations - need help because they often lack money and staff to make improvements.
He used his synagogue as an example. "In a small congregation, I'm Rabbi. I'm doing tech support and gatekeeper."
RELATED: FBI Calls Hostage Incident At Colleyville Synagogue 'Act Of Terrorism' Against Jewish Community
The Rabbi said last month, he was busy doing multiple things to prepare for his Shabbat morning service when the man who would hold him and three members hostage for hours, knocked on their door. "I welcomed a terrorist into my congregation. I live with that responsibility."
Tuesday's hearing took place as the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin warning that supporters of foreign terrorist organizations are encouraging copycat attacks following the hostage standoff in Colleyville.
The Jewish Federation of Dallas has previously said antisemitic attacks in the North Texas and Oklahoma region increased dramatically in 2020 from 2019.
Cytron-Walker said, "Every congregation needs to be prepared, yet the gap between the need and funding is profound. In 2021, fewer than half of nonprofit security grant program applications were approved."
He said there are two challenges though: When applicants are rejected, they often don't receive an explanation, which makes it difficult for them if they want to reapply.
Another issue is all the effort that's needed to apply.
The Rabbi said, "In small congregations, we face special challenges in dealing with government grants. We have two paid staff, a part-time administrative assistant, and myself. Almost all the work running our congregation is done by our members as volunteers."
FEMA's program is administered with the help of the states.
Michael Masters, CEO of Secure Community Network, a nonprofit group that has helped synagogues and Jewish organizations boost their security and training, testified that the process was made more difficult in Texas because the state gave applicants four weeks to file their paperwork last year.
"That means that for particularly small underserved, unserved, less-funded institutions, it creates an even bigger burden on them," Masters said.
In response, Governor Greg Abbott's Office issued a statement to CBS 11.
"The FY 2021 application period in Texas was open from January 14, 2021 through March 18, 2021. This is the same time period for the FY2022 NSGP applications. Applicants have two months to submit an application to State Administrative Agencies (SAA), the agency that administers the program in each state, which is a typical application period for any grant program."
Rabbi Cytron-Walker told members of Congress their hostage taker chose their synagogue because he believed in antisemitic tropes that Jews controlled everything and that with a phone call, could gain the release of a prison inmate in Fort Worth.
Masters said antisemitism has not only spread online and in social media but on other platforms.
"Gaming platforms and gaming-adjacent platforms where people are playing videos as Hamas operatives who are destroying synagogues, blowing-up synagogues. That's the video game. Or active-shooter video games where someone's going into a school and pretending to kill nursery-school aged children," said Masters.
Members of Congress who participated in the hearing, Democrats and Republicans, all expressed support for increasing funding for the federal program and for Cytron-Walker, the three other people who were held hostage, Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, and the broader Jewish community.
During a visit to Colleyville last month, Sen. Ted Cruz also called for an increase in funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.