A 19-year-old Sayreville resident, Omar Alkattoul, pleaded guilty to transmitting an interstate and international threat, leading to increased security measures at synagogues and Jewish schools across New Jersey last year. Alkattoul faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for November 14th.

Prosecutors revealed Alkattoul's admitted hostility towards Jewish people, including statements expressing hatred and a desire for violence. He also confessed to researching firearms, shooting ranges, and mass shootings, although he remained uncertain about carrying out an attack in the days leading up to the threat. Authorities have stated they don't believe Alkattoul possessed the means to execute any specific attack.

On November 1, 2022, Alkattoul shared a document titled "When Swords Collide" via a social media platform, admitting to the recipient that he authored the document and that it pertained to an attack on Jewish individuals. He reportedly disseminated the document to at least five other people through a different social media application. Following an FBI statewide alert on November 3rd and the subsequent identification of a suspect on November 4th (though not publicly named at the time), many municipalities deployed additional police to protect religious sites and schools.

While public warnings about unspecified threats targeting Jewish institutions are not uncommon in the New York City region, often stemming from groups like Christian supremacists and Islamic extremists, and often proving to be unfounded, the area has experienced tragic acts of violence. These include the 2012 firebombings of two synagogues and an attack on a rabbi's residence, the fatal stabbing at a Hanukkah celebration in 2019, and the same year's shooting that claimed the lives of three people at a kosher market and a police officer.