tree of life synagogue

Homeland Security Committee Meets to Discuss Prevention of Violence Against Religious Organizations

In Jackson, Mississippi, the acting DHS secretary met with religious leaders and lawmakers to discuss ways that the department is acting to protect faith institutions targeted for violence.

The acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security visited Jackson, Mississippi last week as part of the agency’s campaign to fight violence targeting faith-based communities. 


At the first public meeting of a DHS subcommittee dedicated to preventing targeted violence of faith centers, Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan said the administration and other politicians must address the recent mass shooting in El Paso with “moral clarity,” adding: “It is hate, it is domestic terrorism, and it must be resisted together by Americans of all races, ethnicities and faiths.” 


“I am concerned about the white supremacy and the extreme increases and the growing attacks, especially the ones we have seen on the houses of worship,” McAleenan said. “I absolutely agree it is a problem and we need to work to address it.”


The Subcommittee for Prevention of Targeted Violence Against Faith-Based Communities, announced in July as part of the department’s advisory council, includes professors, law enforcement officers and religious leaders representing Muslim, Jewish, Mormon, Sikh and Christian communities. In the wake of attacks on houses of worship, more religious organizations are training congregants to handle weapons and protect community members from violence. 


Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who chairs the Homeland Security Committee in the House, said that houses of worship are intended to be safe havens for communities. 


“Unfortunately, those of us here from Mississippi and the South know too well the horror that shakes a community when a house of worship is attacked,” Thompson said, referencing shootings at synagogues, churches and Sikh temples that were motivated by hate. “It’s a sad fact that our houses of worship are living under threats of violence at the hands of extremist terrorists of all ideologies.” 


Though McAleenan acknowledged that the FBI is the main government agency tasked with investigating domestic terrorism, he said his department is moving “aggressively” to handle the threat through more stringent threat analyses and better intelligence gathering practices. 


“Over the last two years, the DHS intelligence and analysis directorate has increased its strategic and tactical reporting on domestic terrorism by over 150 percent,” McAleenan told the panel. 


One of his first moves when entering his acting role was to establish the Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention to better coordinate the department’s strategy to fight domestic terrorism, McAleenan said. The subcommittee, which is due to release its initial report in September, is also part of his efforts to improve the department’s response and prevention efforts.


“I’m confident that the work of this subcommittee will help DHS secure and promote the resiliency of houses of worship as well as help identify areas where we can expand and refine our domestic terrorism prevention and protection efforts for the benefit of all Americans,” he said. 


Thompson, alongside religious leaders at the forum, urged law enforcement and the department to take action now to keep religious centers and communities safe. 


“While we need to work to eradicate all forms of extremism, these at-risk faith-based centers and nonprofits need the protection in the short term,” Thompson said. 


Featured

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services
  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

  • Report: Nearly 1 in 5 Healthcare Leaders Say Cyberattacks Have Impacted Patient Care

    Omega Systems, a provider of managed IT and security services, today released new research that reveals the growing impact of cybersecurity challenges on leading healthcare organizations and patient safety. According to the 2025 Healthcare IT Landscape Report, 19% of healthcare leaders say a cyberattack has already disrupted patient care, and more than half (52%) believe a fatal cyber-related incident is inevitable within the next five years. Read Now

New Products

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • Compact IP Video Intercom

    Viking’s X-205 Series of intercoms provide HD IP video and two-way voice communication - all wrapped up in an attractive compact chassis.