Israel-Hamas war leading to rise in threats in North Texas, Dallas FBI says

DALLAS - Federal agents in North Texas and across the country are on high alert as threats against Jews, Muslims and Palestinians are spiking with the start of Israel's war with Hamas.

"Here in North Texas we're definitely seeing an uptick in threat reporting. A lot of that reporting is primarily targeting the Jewish community, Arabs and Muslims," said Chad Yarbrough, the Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas FBI.

Yarbrough talked with FOX 4's Shaun Rabb about the efforts to keep those communities safe.

"A lot of that relates to hoax bomb threats, social media postings, targeting those particular religions or ethnicities," he said.

Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland directed all U.S. Attorney and FBI divisions to step up work with local law enforcement.

"We're really leveraging our North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force lead here at the FBI," arbrough said. "And members of the intelligence community. We have agents, task force officers from all across the Metroplex and our intelligence analysts to comb through all of that intelligence, make assessments, or mitigate threats and plots here in North Texas."

The battle lines may be seven thousand miles away, but it is leading to bubbling emotions and many raising voices here.

"We've seen a lot of protests both pro-Israeli and anti-Israel and pro-Hamas and anti-Hamas, and they've all been very peaceful and everyone has demonstrated their First Amendment right to have their say," Yarbrough noted.

Police are watching for what we can't see, in ways we can't see.

In some places like New York, police presence was more visible.

"You know one of our biggest concerns right now is a lone offender attack," Yarbrough revealed.

The head of FBI Dallas says the climate is right for someone like the Allen mall shooter, who had racial bias and a fascination for active shooters.

"We want people like that to be reported. So I think the message is, it's not just about the Hamas-Israeli conflict. We want anyone who is showing any hatred or bias," Yarbrough said.

The message is not to live with angst, but to be aware.

"You need to be aware of your surroundings when you're in public. You need to have an egress and know your exits, but also you have to report suspicious activity," Yarbrough said.

If you know of any kind of hate crime being planned, aware of hate threats or you've received threats, the FBI wants you to contact them or call 911.