Texas man charged with providing funds and bomb components to ISIS
(JNS) — A 21-year-old Texas man has been charged with a federal terrorism offense for trying to give bomb components and money to people he believed were connected to the Islamic State terrorist group, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Dec. 29.
John Michael Garza Jr. of Midlothian, Texas, was charged after meeting on Dec. 22 with someone he thought supported a foreign terrorist organization. Authorities said the person was an undercover FBI agent.
According to the federal complaint, Garza brought “various bomb-making materials” to the meeting and “explained how to mix the ingredients and surround them with nails.” He also “offered to send the undercover an instructional bomb-building video.”
Prosecutors said the investigation began in mid-October when a New York City Police Department undercover employee “noticed a social-media account,” later traced to Garza, that followed pro-ISIS content and had written a supportive comment on a post.
Over weeks of online conversation, Garza, who described himself to the undercover employee as “Mexican-American,” shared that he “ascribed to the ISIS ideology” and sent official ISIS media releases. He also sent small amounts of cryptocurrency in November and December, believing that his money would help ISIS purchase firearms.
Garza appeared in federal court on Dec. 23, with a probable cause and detention hearing scheduled for Dec. 20. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
AJC joins legal challenge to laws that mandate public schools display the Ten Commandments
(JNS) — The American Jewish Committee announced on Dec. 29 that it has joined in the case opposing laws in Texas and Louisiana that require public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments.
In a statement, the AJC said it is participating in challenging the measures in “friend-of-the-court briefs before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.” A friend-of-the-court brief, also known as an amicus curiae brief, is a document filed in court by individuals or organizations who have a strong interest in the outcome of a case.
“Forcing public school classrooms to display the Protestant Christian version of the Ten Commandments is a clear violation of freedom of religion,” the organization said.
The AJC emphasized that while the Ten Commandments have historical importance, they remain a religious text “with critical differences in wording among faiths and denominations.”
The organization warned that the government-mandated display risks elevating “one faith’s version over others” and pressuring students “to conform to the religious beliefs embodied in the Commandments.”
According to the AJC, the legal effort brings together a broad interfaith coalition “of Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh organizations opposing these laws.”
Mamdani sworn in as NYC mayor
(JNS) — Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as New York City’s 112th mayor shortly after midnight on Jan. 1.
Mamdani, 34, a Queens state assemblyman, was sworn in by State Attorney General Letitia James at an abandoned subway station, with his wife, Rama Duwaji, by his side. He is the first New York City mayor to use a Quran at his swearing-in.
“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said after taking the oath to faithfully discharge his duties as mayor and paying the $9 filing fee, the New York Post reported.
Mamdani campaigned on affordability and cost-of-living issues but is a vocal critic of Zionism, a stance that has left New York’s Jewish community unsettled.
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City, a leading liberal critic of Mamdani, told JNS in November: “History demonstrates to us that wherever anti-Zionism is normalized and wherever it has support, anti-Zionism has support from high-level government officials, [and] as night follows day, hostility to Jews increases.”
A day before Mamdani became mayor, the city office to combat Jew-hatred released its first annual report.
“Antisemitism is not only a Jewish problem,” outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams wrote in the report. “It tests our city’s character.”
US extends duty-free access for some Israeli farm items through 2026
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Dec. 29 extending duty-free access for certain Israeli agricultural products entering the United States through the end of 2026, continuing a long-standing bilateral trade agreement between the two allies.
The proclamation, titled “To Implement the United States-Israel Agreement on Trade in Agricultural Products and for Other Purposes,” updates the U.S. tariff schedule to carry out commitments under a 2004 agricultural trade agreement with Israel.
It allows specified quantities of “eligible agricultural products of Israel” to enter the U.S. market without tariffs from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31.
According to the proclamation, the step is a broader effort to modernize U.S.-Israel agricultural trade rules. The document notes that the two countries signed an agreement on Dec. 1, providing for “permanent modifications” to the 2004 accord, followed by a second agreement on Dec. 4 to temporarily extend existing terms while those changes are implemented.
Originally signed in 1985 under the wider U.S.-Israel Free Trade Area Agreement, the agricultural component has been renewed periodically since 2004, with duty-free access governed by annual quota levels set out in the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule.
