New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday that her state is increasing its staffing to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in response to a "rise in hate crimes and incidents of harassment" since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war.
The additional $2.5 million being directed to the New York State Police will allow it to "deploy ten additional investigators in New York City, Albany, Buffalo and Rochester, ensuring the State Police has a presence in all JTTF investigative groups and areas," Hochul’s office said in a statement.
"I immediately deployed the New York State Police on October 7 to protect at-risk communities and we have continued our laser focus on public safety since then," the statement quoted Hochul as saying. "Surging resources to the Joint Terrorism Task Force is a critical step to ensure New Yorkers are protected from domestic and international threats."
Hochul’s office says the deployment will allow State Police to work as a "force-multiplier for the JTTF, ensuring that all cases with New York State ties are thoroughly examined and investigated.
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"It will also strengthen ties already existing between the JTTF and the New York State Intelligence Center Counter-Terrorism Center, allowing for greater involvement in investigations into Racially Motivated Violent Extremists, Domestic Violent Extremist groups, Anti-Government/Anti-Authority Violent Extremists, as well as into conspiracy theories & disinformation/misinformation," it added.
Statistics from the New York City Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force show that bias incidents under investigation rose by 124% since October, including a 214% growth in anti-Jewish incidents, according to Hochul’s office.
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"Overall, hate crime investigations year to date continued their downward trend with a decrease of 9%," the office also said.
In October, an Ivy League student who allegedly made threats of a mass shooting and antisemitic violence at Cornell University was criminally charged following a JTTF investigation.
Cornell University administrators had dispatched campus police to a Jewish center after threatening statements appeared on a discussion board.
Fox News' Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
